No Rest for the Wicked
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: 1930's A&A/ AU. Ariadne and her young daughter are destitute after the stock market collapse and her husbands desertion. Arthur is a police detective trying to stop the illegal bootleggers and brothels in the city run by the nefarious Mr. Eames. When Arthur stumbles upon the young mother so obviously close to this dangerous world, he has to step in.
1. Chapter 1

**1930's A&A AU.**

** Ariadne and her young daughter are destitute after the stock market collapse and her husbands desertion. **

** Arthur is a police detective trying to stop the illegal bootleggers and brothels in the city run by the nefarious Mr. Eames **

** When Arthur stumbles upon the the young mother so obviously close to this dangerous world, he has to step in. **

**~ No Reset for the Wicked ~**

1.

_**~ Winter 1930 ~ **_

_**~ New York City ~**_

~ Ariadne wanted to stay under the covers for a little longer. Sleep beckoned her back as she could feel the little body stir awake beside her.

She hoped Rose would sleep for a few hours more. That the child wouldn't wake until almost dinner time, and then that was one less meal she had to worry about.

But, Rose was an early riser. Always jumping out of bed ready to start her day. Ariadne rolled over and saw her look-a-like daughter.

Rose's large brown eyes were shinning back at her, and she was smiling with her lost baby teeth. Ariadne pulled the covers over them a little more. It felt like they were in a tent this way, and it kept the chill of winter out. She could still see her lovely little girl under the covers, and the child started to sing from her favorite radio program.  
"I'll always love you, and make you happy." Rose sang in a soft, child like, refrain. "If you will only say the same, but if you leave me, and love another; you'll regret it all someday."

Ariadne smiled at her. Delighting in the fact she saw herself in miniature. She decided to sing along.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please, don't take my sunshine away."

Ariadne finished their song with a kiss on Rose's nose before settling back under the covers.

"I'm sorry I had to sell your bed, Rose." she said.  
"It's okay, mamma." the girl said brightly. "I like sharing a bed with you."

"What time is it?" Ariadne asked as she smoothed out Rose's dark hair.

"Late, the sun is already up." she said happily.  
"Are you hungry?" Ariadne asked.  
"Yes!" Rose said eagerly.  
"Well, get dressed and wash your face." her mother sighed. "I'll see what we have to eat."

Rose jumped out of bed and ran to the washroom.

Their new home had been difficult to get used to. It was nothing more than an attic apartment that let the heat out in winter, and the heat in during summer. But at $40 and month, it was a steal as far as housing went.

Ariadne let out a sigh as she heard Rose washing up in the little bathroom, and went to their tiny kitchen to turn on the gas range. The room was so small, all she needed to do was cook something to have their space grow warmer. She set water to boil and looked at the time. Eleven o'clock, she had another two hours to kill before she had to be at work. A sad little typing pool where they wrote eviction notices and threatening letters from creditors. Still, it was the only thing going these days. She just wished she had more hours.

Her job paid her $25 a week, and with food, electricity and rent, there was little else for them. Ariadne looked in the icebox for the the last of the milk. That would go to Rose this morning and then they would both drink water till tomorrow when she was paid again.

She looked over the suddenly woeful store in her cupboards and ice box.

'_Milk, I'll have to buy milk, and a block of ice to. Oatmeal, I've enough for Rose's oatmeal until payday which is a blessing. I want to buy us some bananas, maybe some oranges and apples. Rose loves fruit like it was candy. I'll have to get a loaf of bread and some lunch meat, potatoes, carrots and eggs. Also cheese and something nice for dinner._'

She did up a mental inventory of her grocery needs in her head. Her quick math telling her the total would be about $5.

'_Not so bad._' she thought and then remembered. '_Oh the laundry powder and toothpaste. I forgot about those. Also soap to._' She let out a sigh. All those extras would put her over budget. Instead of $5, it would be almost $6. Also, Alma would be wanting $0.50 for minding Rose for the evening while Ariadne worked.

The weary mother let out a sigh. Her pay would be $25 this week, if not less. $12 would be set aside for rent. $6 for food, another $4 for the electric and gas which was due. Which left her $2 to pay Alma, just so she could to do it all over again next week.

She wished for the 100th time Bill was still there. Not that she missed_ him _exactly, but she liked the money he occasionally brought into the house.

Before he husband left her six months ago, before the market crashed and the whole world went insane, Ariadne didn't have to work. She didn't even look at the price tags when she bought food. Rose had new clothes and shoes. They ate meat at almost every meal and they lived in a nice little apartment in Philadelphia with quite neighbors. They saved a little money each week. Planed to buy themselves a car, and were hoping for another baby soon.

But then the stock market crash had happened. Black Tuesday had sounded so scary in the papers, but didn't register with them. They were working class and had no money invested in the stock market, they assumed it didn't effect them.

But the little money they had in savings vanished in the run on banks. Bill said not to worry, he still had his job in the factory, but the very next month, they closed their doors. Work for able bodied men could be found in America.

Ariadne tried to take in laundry and sewing, but wasn't able to find someone who would pay for a thing any woman could do.

Bill became increasingly depressed as he was reduced to fighting for work in mills and shipping yards. Waiting in line with a hundred other men for $5 in cash on the days he was picked.

Finally, they used what little money they had and took the train to New York City. A friend had promised Bill and Ariadne work. They happily made the move with their few possessions. They had sold almost everything else to pay for their move and the rent on this apartment.

Things got a little better as Bill brought in money each week. For a while, things looked like they could turn around. Ariadne was bringing money to pay for food, and they could easily afford the rent and even save again. All their cash went into a glass mason jar that was hidden in the closet. The family now having a great distrust of banks.

Then one day, in the middle of summer, the factory was shut down and Bill was out of work again.

He took to going to a local speakeasy and fighting with Ariadne. There were times when she hoped he would stay out all night and not come home. Maybe then, he wouldn't hit her or make Rose cry.

Sadly enough, her wish came true after a month of being out of work.

Bill was shouting at her while packing his bag. Telling her how she was no good and the city was no good. Hoover was a thief and crook and she was a bad mother.

She was screaming at him as he took the cash they had carefully saved and left them. Ariadne was crying on the street as he walked out of their lives.

There was nothing to do then but go back inside and try to figure out how to live.

Thank God she still had her job at the typing pool. It may not pay much, they may be barely getting by, but they got by. Today she would ask Mr. Williams if there was a chance she could get more work. He was a nice enough man. A heavy set bachelor who was balding and ate his lunch and dinner at a coffee shop and would laugh about the woes of being without a wife.

When he found out Ariadne's husband had left, he made little comments about being lonely and not having a woman to cook and clean for him.

She knew Mr. Williams liked her, but the thought of marrying that man repulsed her. As long as she had her job, she would be alright.

"Oatmeal again?" Rose whined as Ariadne kissed her cheek.

"You like oatmeal." Ariadne told her daughter.  
"We eat it all the time!" Rose complained as she begrudgingly ate her meager breakfast. Ariadne with her own small share and wished she had butter and apples to eat with it.

She watched as Rose drank her milk and eat the last apple before payday tomorrow. She smiled as her daughter grinned happily at her with her missing teeth.

"Tomorrow we get something nice to eat. Right Mamma?" she asked.

"Right you are, Rose." Ariadne said feeling the tenseness in her body ease. Every payday, Ariadne got them a special meal of chicken or beef. They ate well on payday with fresh milk for the both of them. New cereal and vegetables in the cupboard and ice box. Not a hint of beans, rice and potatoes for a few more days.

"We have to wash dishes and clean up before I have to go to work." Ariadne said as she still felt hungry after eating her breakfast.

Rose nodded and brought her own bowl and glass to the sink. Ariadne washed as Rose dried and together they put their two bowls next to their two glasses and two plates.

Rose dressed in the coat she was getting too big for and Ariadne hoped no one would notice the run in her own stocking that was beyond mending.

~ Alma was a fat housewife who took in kids to watch day and night for $0.50 a day. She greeted Ariadne at the door.  
"Alma." Ariadne breathed as Rose held her hand tightly. "Can I pay you on tomorrow evening? I get paid then." Ariadne said hopefully.  
"I'm not a charity." Alma said as Ariadne noticed the woman didn't have the decency to wear a bra around the house. Just a dirty dress slip that was too small for her.  
"Please?" Ariadne asked.

"Alright, but it's a now $0.60 to mind the girl. Course if you don't pay, what's the difference?" Alma said as she allowed Rose inside with the other kids. Ariadne counted seven in all. All of them playing quietly, mostly likely afraid of the great, fat woman and her shouting.

"Rose, I'll pick you up after seven." Ariadne said and kissed the little girl on the forehead.

Rose tired to be brave as Ariadne saw herself in her daughter and hurried outside in the snow.

No money. No money for a better coat for Rose, better food for Rose and certainly no money for the bus to take to work. Ariadne trudged in the snow for over two miles until she reached the little typing pool office. She wondered why Betty and Lilly were standing outside the office shivering when they should be inside already.  
"Ari!" Betty said rushing to her and almost slipping on the ice. "They closed up the office!"

"What?" Ariadne asked as she saw Mr. Williams step out of his car with an envelope.  
"They didn't pay the rent and now the owner of the building closed up the office. Mr. Williams is handing out our last pay!" Betty cried. Her seventeen year old world crumbling.

Ariadne watched in horror as Mr. Williams handed her an envelope, thick with cash and coins.  
"I'm sorry, Miss. Shannon." her boss said. His face looking grim. "I had no idea my bosses were so behind on the rent. I had to fight to get the pay you have coming to you."

"Mr Williams." Ariadne wanted to cry. Since Bill left, Ariadne had been searching for another job to help make ends meet and could find nothing for a woman. Women were paid far less then men for the same work, because, as one store owner put it, they had men to provide for them and didn't need more money.

Ariadne no longer had a man to provide for her. She had to provide for herself and Rose.

"You can find another job, I'll write you a letter of reference." Mr. Williams said.  
"Their _are_ no jobs you fat old bastard!" Lilly cried. She was a middle aged woman who had her three children and an out of work husband to take care of. Like Ariadne, this job was all she had.

Ariadne turned away and walked back the two miles home; ignoring Mr. Williams offer to take her to lunch at the coffee shop. Not hearing how he was a lonely bachelor who just wanted her to have lunch with him.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ Detective Arthur Darling felt his eyes go blurry as sleep wanted to come for him. He was at his desk reading the latest reports on Mr. Eames and his illegal booze running. It was a brilliant system of utilizing the underground tunnels in the city and providing the local speakeasies with a dizzying array of not just moonshine, but of fine gin, beer and wine. It wasn't clear how he was able to lay his hands on these exotic brands in the midst of prohibition, but Arthur knew Mr. Eames had gifts for this life of crime.

He suspected the criminal utilized penniless teenagers to move the booze all over the city. In these times, the city was full of desperate people who would break the law for a little money.

"I don't know why we bother." Cobb said as he pointed to the dart board.

Arthur looked up at the scathing article penned by one recently arrested speakeasy owner. The article claimed a lot of New York's elite politicians where frequenting his club. Many of them teetotalers; at least in the papers. The detectives charged with policing the speakeasies were appalled that the very men who passed these laws, disregarded them. It was Cobb's idea to tack the article on the dart board.

"If our own leaders won't even obey the law." Cobb sighed.  
"It's not about who drinks and if I agree with prohibition or not. These men here, are breaking the law." Arthur said as he showed Cobb the file on Mr. Eames.

"They sell poorly brewed moonshine that can make you blind, or causes paralysis in the legs. It even kills people. Also, this Mr. Eames? We have it on good authority that he has been operating a speakeasy and a brothel here in the city. He takes advantage of desperate women and uses them to make himself rich."

Cobb shook his head.

"Arthur, no one makes those girls go and work in a whore house. Eames isn't forcing people to drink his booze either." he argued.  
"No, but how would you feel if you couldn't support your family and your wife went to Eames to bring home money for food? How would you feel if James started drinking this moonshine and went blind or died?" Arthur asked.

The young man sighed as he rustled over his papers.  
"I don't have a problem with alcohol. It needs to be a choice, but these are criminals. Criminals who hurt our city and people who are suffering from this depression, while they make money." Arthur said sadly.  
"Hoover says it's not a depression." Cobb laughed as he threw a dart at the article about the politicians going to the speakeasy.

"Hoover spends all his time fishing and not running the country. If he paid the slightest attention to the papers, he should have seen this coming." Arthur grumbled.  
"Well, good luck saving the world, Arthur." Cobb said and pulled on his coat. "I've got to go home. Mal is cooking a roast tonight and Amos' and Andy are going to be on the radio. I promised the kids I would listen with them."

Arthur went back to his reading.

"You're welcome to join us." Cobb said as he looked out at the snow coming down.

"No, I'll go home after a while." Arthur said.  
"Arthur, don't invest yourself too much in your work. You need a personal life, alright? Bad things happen to lawmen who don't have families." Cobb told his friend. "Let Mal set you up with one of her girlfriends. You need a lady to go home to. Best part of my day is walking up to my apartment and smelling dinner cooking and seeing my wife and kids."

"Good night, Cobb." Arthur sighed as her bent over the report on Mr. Eames.

~ Ariadne counted out one twenty, a ten, a five and two dollars. She put the coins in her little coin purse and went to the market with Rose clutching her hand happily and singing.  
"I'm glad you're off work today, mamma!" the child sang as she carried one of the canvas grocery bags for her mother.

Ariadne tried to smile, but couldn't. She was ringing up math problems in her head.  
_'I've got $30 saved up for the rent next month. That's good. That's very good._' She thought to herself. '_I can spend $6 on food and soap, forget the nice meal and fruit for Rose, maybe I can stretch out the $20 until I find another job. It will give me two weeks to find another job. Any job, to pay the rent for next month. I can go to the soup kitchens when our food runs out. Maybe even the other charities I've seen ads for._' she thought bitterly as Rose eyed bananas and oranges.

"We have to be sensible, Rose." Ariadne said as she picked up staples of beans, rice and oatmeal.

"Mamma, I want an orange!" Rose cried in the middle of the market.  
"No, Rose. We have to buy only what we need!" Ariadne said as the sweet little girl burst into tears.

"I don't want anymore oatmeal! I want an orange! I want a banana!" she cried.

~ In the end, Ariadne relented. She never had the chance to give Rose nice things. Her daughter was forced to sell her dolls and keep only two. Rose was outgrowing not just her coat, but her shoes as well. How could she deny her child something as simple as fruit?

Rose nursed her banana as they walked home in the snow. Tears running down her cheeks as the fruit comforted her.

Ariadne had bought $7 dollars worth of groceries for them. They would eat well tonight she decided. Rose had apples, oranges and banana's. She also bought jam and fresh vegetables for a stew tomorrow.

"Thank you, mamma." Rose said as Adriana wiped her daughters tears away.  
Ariadne wanted to apologize to her daughter. Wanted to say she was sorry for ever saying she couldn't have something. Rose had gone without for so long now, and the child never complained. Rose didn't throw a fit when they sold her toys or furniture. When they moved away and when she was dropped off at Alma's for the day.

It was odd that she should cry now over wanting better food. Ariadne worried her daughter, her look-a-like girl, was starting to break.

"Excuse me!" came a shout from the store as they were leaving. Ariadne turned to see a well dressed man trotting to them. He had apparently been in for cigarettes and other small items.

Ariadne held her bags closer and Rose instinctively hid behind her mother.  
"I'm sorry to bother you." he said as he caught up with them. "But I couldn't help over hearing you with your girl in the store."

A lovely English accent slipped out of his mouth as he smiled at them both.  
"Oh, I'm sorry she bothered you." Ariadne said feeling embarrassed by Rose's tantrum.  
"Not at all." he said handing her a paper bag of oranges. "In fact I was hoping to help."

Ariadne looked at the bag and Rose stood on tiptoe. Her eyes growing big.  
"Oh no, we can't accept them." Ariadne said as she shouldered her canvas bags once more. Her mind ticking over the math in her head.

'_$7 on food, we have enough for next months rent. Electric! How could I have forgotten about the electric!_' she almost shouted at herself.

"Look, It's my pleasure." he said happily as he gave her the bag.

"I don't know you and it's not right-"

"It's perfectly right. My name is Eames, so now you know me." the gentleman said with a charming smile.

"Mamma?" Rose said hopefully.

"Ariadne shook her head at her daughter who now sulked.  
"We can't, Mr. Eames. But thank you." she said handing him back the fruit.  
"Alright." Eames said. "I'll eat them myself."

He looked sad for a moment as the three of them stood in the snow.  
"By the way, I'm sure everything is fine at home for you-" he started to say.

"Everything _is_ fine at home for us." Ariadne snapped as she saw Rose look longingly at the bag.

"That's good." Eames said "But in case you're looking for work, I might be able to help you."

Ariadne shifted on her feet.  
"Really?" she asked.

"Really." Eames said as he handed her his card.  
"I run a nice little business. I could use a girl like you." he said. "You have someone to watch the girl while you're at work?"

"A great, big fat woman who walks around the house in nothing but a dirty slip and sleeps the whole time. She smells like cat food and I think she eats the cat food and lets the cats starve!" Rose cried.

Eames was laughing as Ariadne shushed her.

"Well, that is a picture, little miss." he said. "Please say you'll come to my place and see about a job. I could pay you $10 a night. More if the customers like you."

"A waitress?" Ariadne asked hopefully. She had never waited tables before, but was eager to make good money. $10 a night would mean they could move out of the apartment. They could eat good food every day and Rose could have the new coat and shoes she deserved.

"Come by tomorrow around three and wear something pretty." Eames said.

Ariadne looked over his business card. It was in Manhattan and would mean a long walk in the snow. She would have to pay Alma another much needed $0.50 to watch Rose and all for a job she might not even get.

She said her goodbyes to Mr. Eames and before she could stop him, the gentleman handed Rose the bag of oranges and left them.

**The most recent school shooting today has me so upset I decided to post early to have my say about it. **

**I'm not sure the world ISN'T coming to an end in a few days. What kind of animal walks into an elementary school, in a bullet proof vest, armed to the teeth, and kills 25 kids who can't defend themselves?**

**As a 6th generation Texan, I believe in guns. I was raised in a house with guns and I know how to use them for my personal safety. Texas is a stand your ground state and I believe in using guns.**

**I believe banning guns for a shooting is like banning cars for car accidents.**

**Having said that, I would LOVE it if our country no longer sold high power automatic guns that were being used today. Guns meant to be used my military and police forces, and had no business in the hands of civilians.**

**My thoughts are with the families right now, who's lives are just destroyed by this shooting. No parent can EVER recover from their child dieing. **


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ "Babies, we must do the washing!" Rose scolded her two dolls as she washed their clothes in the mixing bowl Ariadne gave her.

She smiled at her little girl washing her doll's clothes in water and lectured to them in some imaginary conversation.

"I know it's Friday, and we normally do the washing on Monday, like the rest of the world." she said as Ariadne found her blue dress to wear to see Mr. Eames.

"But these are hard times and we don't always have the luxury of sticking to a schedule, do we?" Rose went on. "Besides, I have the baking I still have to do and the the sewing. The marketing is done, which is a blessing, but we have to pull together don't we, babies?"

Ariadne stooped to kiss her prized child on the head. She loved Rose so much at these moments. The girl no doubt picking up her own worries about their lives. She was often counting her blessings in front of Rose. _'We've got the rent paid, which is a blessing. We've got the marketing done, which is a blessing. We've got the washing done, which is a blessing.'_

Ariadne found it was easier to take stock of what they _had,_ over what they didn't.

She stripped off her everyday dress and pulled on her blue one. It was a little big on her. She realized she was losing weight at an alarming rate. Her undergarments sagging off her now.

"Rose, you know I'll be gone almost all day today." Ariadne said as she dusted off her good shoes. She hated to wear them in the snow, but she had to show up looking decent. She wished she had better stockings and a nicer hat. That her coat was a little more fashionable to.

"I have my picture books, mamma." Rose said as she redressed her dolls in their other homemade dresses.  
"You can read to your babies while I'm away?" Ariadne asked.  
"Yes, do I have to say with Miss Alma?"

"You're too little to be on your own." Ariadne sighed. She regretted having to part with the two quarters that would mean a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread and milk for them.  
"But then you'll be home and we can eat dinner?" Rose asked as she dressed her dolls with care.  
"We can eat those oranges for dessert." Ariadne promised. She was going to fix her daughter a meal of roasted chicken, potatoes and carrots when she came home. Hopefully celebrating a new job.

~ She paid Alma the two quarters and kissed Rose goodbye before walking to the bus stop. There was no way she could expect to walk all the way to the club in this weather. She would freeze before she got there. So, she parted with the nickel that would have bought her a loaf of bread and took the bus.

She forgot how nice it was not to have to walk for a change. The bus taking her there quickly as she tried not to look at the sight of people living in their cars and the scene in Central Park when people were setting up camps because they had nowhere to go.

~ The address for Mr. Eames was a restaurant. Yet, nothing about it looked inviting to customers. Indeed, it looked dangerous to be around as rough looking work men whistled at her and licked their lips.

"Who you looking for, doll face?" one of the men asked.  
"Um..." Ariadne faltered as the men looked at her greedily. "A Mr. Eames." she said.

One of the men gave a wolf whistle and the other man who called her doll face told him to shut it.  
"He's inside, lady." The man said. "Why don't you go in? Lenny is at the door. You tell him you're looking for Mr. Eames."

"Thank you." Ariadne said as the men looked at her.

She knocked on the front door and a man was quick to open it.  
"Who you looking for?" he asked.  
"Mr. Eames. He said something about... about a job?" she said.

The man at the door looked her up and down.  
"You got talent, I guess." he admitted as he waved her in.

Ariadne felt confused as she stepped into the foyer and Lenny shut the front door.  
"This door only opens when the front door is shut." he explained as he locked the door behind her.

Ariadne gripped the collar of her coat tighter. Her stomach feeling sick all of the sudden.

"I guess I don't need to pat you down for weapons do I? You'd be surprised how many of our girls carry pistols and switch blades." Lenny laughed.  
"I..." Ariadne tried to think. '_What kind of a restaurant was this?'_

"Eames is an okay guy to work for. He treats his girls right and roughs up anyone who give them trouble." Lenny said as he opened the door to the main room.

Ariadne followed him to a darken restaurant where there was a stage surrounded by tables and a bar.

Her mind had to think that over. The news was all over about these places, a speakeasy where people bought liquor. She wasn't a drinker, couldn't afford to be. But if the pay was good, she could serve drinks in this place.

"If anyone is rough with you, you know, talks to you in a way you don't like, you come to me, Roscoe or Bronx there." Lenny said pointing to two heavy set men who looked ready for a fight. "We'll take care of it. _Don't_ go to Eames. He looks nice enough I know, but he don't like women to get hurt. He ain't to pleasant to be around when he has to deal with it either." Lenny was saying. "He's got a bad temper if he thinks one of his girls been messed with the wrong way. I don't like that part of the business, but it's necessary. We run a nice place here with nice girls like you, honey."

"I don't think I'll have any trouble serving drinks." Ariadne said.

Lenny looked at her in surprise.  
"Honey, I'll leave you to work out the details with the man here." Lenny said as he showed her to an office. "You just remember to come to me or the boys. Next time use the back entrance. It's a little safer for you. Those boys we keep out in front are to scare people off. They're good at it to."

Ariadne nodded, but didn't understand.

She entered the little office and saw Mr. Eames on the telephone.

"I gotta call you back, Mate." he said as he slammed down the phone at seeing her.

She breathed a sigh of relief at the welcoming grin.  
"I'm glad you came." he said.  
"Ariadne." she offered.  
"Is that the name you want? Interesting. Might appeal to our professor types." he said with a grin.

"It's the name I was given." Ariadne told him, not understanding.  
Eames raised his eyebrows.  
"It's you're _real_ name?" he laughed. "Well, it's beautiful. Most of our girls pick out stupid names for their work. Don't use their real names, which is safer."

"Safer?" she asked.  
"We protect our girls here and only take 10% of their pay for it." Eames boasted.  
"Waiting tables at a speakeasy." Ariadne nodded. She wasn't sure about breaking the law. What if she was arrested? What would happen to Rose?  
"Well, that's how it will start, Ariadne. You wait a few tables, let the gentlemen see how pretty you are, how sweet you are. If they like you and you them, they see me and I set you up with a room. You don't go to a room with anyone you don't like. In fact, you don't have to go to a room at all. But if you want to make money, I recommend you take a room at least once a night."

"Wait, I don't understand." Ariadne said. "What rooms? I thought I would be waiting tables, cleaning up. That kind of thing."

Eames looked a little saddened.  
"Ariadne, are you married?" he asked instead.  
"My husband left me when he couldn't find a job." she admitted sadly.  
"I thought at much. So you have you're little girl to take care of. Hardly any money coming in right now?" he asked.

"They closed the typing pool I was in two days ago." she told him.

"I see." he said sadly "Well, you can make enough money to take care of your little girl and yourself for only a few hours of work a night. It can barely be called work in fact. You know... what men want when they see a pretty girl like you."

Ariadne stood up. She suddenly knew exactly what Eames was saying.  
"I'm sorry, I made a mistake." she cried out. "I... I have to go."

"Don't leave." Eames said as he took her hand.  
"I'm not a whore!" she almost cried. How could she have been so stupid? Wasting $0.55 cents on daycare and the bus trip down here.

"I know you're not." Eames said soothingly. "That's what the men here want. They want a nice girl to sit with them, talk to them. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. But these men will pay you $25 if you take a room with them. You're not a stranger to a man, Ariadne."  
"I'm not a virgin if that's what you mean. But I'm not a prostitute!" she cried.

Suddenly she couldn't stop sobbing. The best means of money was this? This was how far she had fallen?

Eames was handing her a handkerchief.  
"I'm sorry I upset you, love." he whispered. "Only I saw you in the store with your pretty little girl-"

"Don't talk about my daughter!" Ariadne cried.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to help." he said softly.  
"You can help me by giving me a _real_ job. Not one where I have to take my clothes off!" She spat at him.

~ Eames took her down to the kitchen to meet the two women working there, Lucy and Donna. Both of them older black women who eyed her suspiciously.  
"It's kitchen work, and it's late at night. I can only pay you $10 a week in cash." he told her. "You'll be helping the ladies here with cooking and washing up."

Ariadne felt a little better at being here than in the bar room.

"It's all I can offer you if you don't want to work on the floor." he said.

"I'll take it." she whispered.

Eames let out a sigh as she followed him back to his office.  
"Is there nothing I can't say that will change your mind? We make our customers were condoms, you know what they are, right? Means you won't have a baby. It's all very safe." he pleaded.

"$10 a week will be fine, Mr. Eames." she whispered as he gave her a dollar bill, explained it was for bus fair at the woman who ate cat food.

"It's just a shame to hide a pretty thing like you in the kitchens. If I were to raise the pay to $30? would you think about it?" he asked.  
She shook her head, but took his dollar.

"Alright. Be here at ten tonight. Use the back entrance." he said as Lenny showed her out.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ Arthur sat next to Cobb as they watched a small, slender girl leave Eames' establishment.  
"Another new girl?" Cobb asked.

Arthur shook his head as he scowled over the girl with tears stains on her cheek. She was too thin, and she looked too young and innocent to the world.  
"Looks the sort doesn't she?" Cobb asked as Arthur said nothing.

They were staking out Eames' joint; collecting information on the owner and his 'girls'.

"I hear they make pretty good money here. $25 a tryst." Cobb went on.

"Sure, because they're young and sweet looking. In ten years, it's another story." Arthur sighed.

He looked at the sad, skinny girl and wondered what had drove her to this place.

"Arthur?" Cobb said as his partner left the car and walked quickly after the girl.

~ Ariadne felt ready to cry. She never felt more defeated than she did now. She would be slaving away in a kitchen for $10 a week. It was enough to cover her rent, but not electricity; not groceries. Even if she could make it to three soup and bread lines a day, it wouldn't be enough. Not for her and Rose.

She wanted to scream at the frustration of it. The math that wouldn't add up. Was a roof over their heads worth more than food in their bellies? What about when they had no heat? Would it be better to leave Rose in an orphanage till she got a decent job? No, she couldn't do that. Never could she leave her baby alone. She couldn't live without Rose, her look-a-like daughter.

"Miss?" came a voice behind her.

Ariadne tuned to see a pleasant young man in casual, sensible clothing. She blinked at him as he was out of breath from running.  
"What... what do you want?" she asked suspiciously. She was growing to be distrustful of men lately as her hands went to her coat's collar again. She felt oddly violated and used after being in Eames' place.

"My name is Arthur and I just want to talk to you. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

"No." she spat at him.  
"Just coffee. It's cold out here." he said as she waited for the bus.  
"While you wait for the bus. My treat. I'll even throw in a slice of pie." he offered.  
"Go away!" she shouted at him.

"Alright." he said looking embarrassed. "Look, I know you were talking to Mr. Eames."

She turned on him in shock. He nodded.

"We all know what that place is." he admitted.  
"Go away!" she told him again.  
He didn't move and only let out a long sigh.  
"I know things are hard for you-" he said.

"_I said leave me alone!_" she suddenly shouted.

~ Arthur stepped away from her as this too thin, too small woman looked ready to maul him.

He put his hands up and stepped away from her.  
"Alright." he said. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to help."

"I don't need your help. I can help myself!" she barked as her bus came into view.

Arthur let out a sigh as she climbed on board and left him.

~ "How did it go?" Cobb asked when Arthur came back to the car.

Arthur looked angry.

"She wouldn't talk to me." he admitted.

"Course not." Cobb laughed. "She's not going to give up money like Eames is offering."

"I didn't even get a chance to talk her out of it." Arthur grumbled.  
"Did you tell her you were a cop?" Cobb asked.

"No."

"Well, that's the first smart thing you've done all day." Cobb laughed.

~ Ariadne cried as the bus took her home. It was bad enough Eames had tried to make whoring herself sound so easy, but did that strange man have to follow her to the bus stop like he did? He no doubt saw her leaving Eames' place, guessed she was a there to be one of the girls and thought he could offer her a couple of dollars for her to...

She blinked and tried not to cry again. Tried not to be sick as the bus took her home.

She would wash dishes and cook with those two women; nothing more. She couldn't stomach the idea of selling her body. It was enough of a chore to be with her husband. She couldn't imagine being with a stranger like that.

She wasn't looking forward to going back to that place, but what choice did she have?

~ It was evening as she redressed in her plain work clothes and dropped Rose off with Alma again. How would she pay for the sitter now on only $10 a week? She would have to think of something. Another thing she hadn't thought about was transportation. $0.10 round trip on the bus to this job would add up to a dollar a week. Not to mention Alma's fee for watching Rose, which was $2.50 a week that she wouldn't have if she paid the rent.

Ariadne rubbed her eyes and tired not to do math for once.

~ She went in the back way like she had been told and one of the beefy men let her in.  
"Thought you'd be on the floor." he said as she went to the kitchens.  
"No." she said not looking at the dressing rooms of the 'waitresses' there. Some of them were still teenagers, others were older, but still pretty.

"Alright." the man said as he lead her into the kitchens.

~ The work was surprisingly easy for Ariadne to do. She found Lucy and Donna to be very pleasant and quite. They worked well together in the happy task of washing dishes and drying them. Of cooking trays of food that would be laid out in something called a buffet.

Lucy, the older woman, would take the big pans and trays out to the floor and no waitresses ever came back in the kitchens.

There was hot jazz music, which the women seemed to enjoy and hummed along to, but mostly they kept to themselves which made Ariadne happy.

"You got any family, girl?" Lucy asked as they cleaned the kitchen at four in the morning.

"A little girl. Rose." Ariadne said with a weak smile.  
"Is she with her daddy?" Lucy asked with kind eyes.  
"Her daddy left us." Ariadne admitted.  
"Sorry to hear. My oldest girl, her husband run off to. We pulled together though. I got the whole lot of them sleeping on my floor tonight, but at least they have a roof over their heads." she said.

"It's a blessing." Ariadne agreed.  
"I'm glad you didn't go on the floor with the other girls." Lucy said. "So many of them do."

"I can't do that." Ariadne said sadly.

"Hum." Donna said from the corner. "Give it a while. You'll be out there smiling at the gentlemen who give you money for a chance to see what you got!" she accused.  
"Leave her alone, hellcat!" Lucy snapped.

Ariadne helped Lucy stack clean dishes as they got ready to go home.

"Child, you do what's best for you. Alright? Don't go on the floor." she warned.

"I won't. I'm not sure how I'm going to pay rent and the sitter, and food and the bus over here, but I'll make it work." Ariadne promised.

"You bring your girl here in the kitchens with us." Lucy said.

"Oh, I couldn't." she said as Donna went to an unused table, lifted up the table cloth and pulled free two little girls who had been sleeping there on a floor pallet.

"Why not? We won't say anything. You're girl is safer with us then with a sitter, and you won't have to pay her." Lucy said as Donna put her two girls in matching homemade coats and took them home.

~ The first few weeks at Mr. Eames' went well. Ariadne brought Rose to the kitchens early like Donna and Lucy said to, and she hid her child with Donna's girls under the big table.

Rose seemed to like being with her mother in the warm, clean kitchen for 12 hours a day. Ariadne didn't worry so much about food for them anymore. There was always left over things to eat at the end of the night. Lucy and Donna packing them away in careful containers to take home whatever they couldn't eat themselves. Ariadne and Rose feasting on dry chicken, and other foods that they made.

Rose and Donna's girls played quietly and told stories under the table as their mothers worked. They said they were camping and fell asleep on the thick quilts Donna put under the table.

Come morning, Donna would pull their bed out from under the table and rouse warm, sleeping bodies awake. The girls cuddled up like a litter of puppies under the table.

Ariadne was too small to pick her daughter up anymore and Rose had to walk with her to catch the bus. Once at home, they each took a bath and went to bed. Rose falling asleep as Ariadne dressed her in her night gown.

But soon, the inevitable came. The power was shut off because she wasn't able to pay the bill.

They woke up shivering in the dark and couldn't even heat water to wash with because the gas was off to.

~ Ariadne felt miserable as she made Rose clean up in the kitchens of a whore house. She was thankful Eames, his 'girls' or the bouncers never came into the kitchens. The kitchen was a safe world of cooking and cleaning. Of Lucy humming along to the jazz music and Donna complaining about everything.

On payday, Eames would bring the women their money and tell Ariadne again how she could be making much more.

"I think you're holding out for a better price." he whispered to her as she looked at the sad ten dollar bill and extra $1 in bus fare he gave her without asking.

"I'm not. This will do fine." she told him. Not refusing the dollar as she was penniless once rent was paid.  
"I tell you what, I'm willing to go as high as $40, and it only has to be me." Eames whispered. "No other men, just me. You don't even have to go on the floor."

Ariadne looked up at him. Her blood running cold as she shivered a little. Lucy and Donna were out of ear shot and Rose was already asleep under the table.

She looked at Mr. Eames. Had he been an honest man, a school teacher, a banker or even a garbage collector, she would have allowed him to take her out on a date. A movie and coffee at a shop where everything was hot and not left over and dried out. She would have let him court her and maybe kiss her. He was handsome enough, kind enough.

But the idea she would be naked with him for money made her skin crawl.  
"I didn't earn this." she whispered as she gave him back the dollar bill.

Eames pushed it back to her and whispered.

"Pride goth before a fall, Ariadne." he looked at her imploringly. "I can take care of you and your girl. I have a nice home and money for the both of you. I don't go to rooms with the girls here, if that's what you're worried about. It's not good business."

"I can take care of myself my girl." Ariadne whispered.

"Not on $10 a week." he scoffed.  
"You have another job for me to do, where I can still be an honest woman, let me know." Ariadne snapped.

Eames looked at her imploringly and shook his head.

"I won't keep trying, Ariadne. You should take me up on this offer." he said.

~ Arthur stood next to Cobb as their hand picked team waited for their briefing.

"Mr. Eames is the owner of this so called restaurant. His girls waitress at tables so the men can look them over and decide who they want to spend the night with. It's a subtle and brilliant tactic for prostitution. On paper, the girls are working tables with food and all that. Mr. Eames approaches their table and visits with them a while, makes the deal." Arthur explained. His mind thinking over the sweet looking thin girl he saw last month at the bus stop.  
There was a fair amount of hooting from the men at the idea of a whore house and what they may find there.  
"Keep it down!" Arthur growled. "Lot of these girls are under age; we're not after them. We don't want to punish them. We're after the big fish here." Arthur reminded them, showing them a picture of Eames on the dart board.

"Eames not only is involved with a brothel, but illegal sale and distribution of liquor. Tonight, we raid this place. We take down Eames, and find out where his network is set up." Arthur explained.  
"Detective Darling and I will follow you in and make the arrest." Cobb stepped in. "As soon as we raid the place, word will get out to his other locations. They will shut down for a few days and it will be impossible to get in to discover where the networks are."

"Which is why we need this big fish so much." Arthur added as he threw a dart at Mr. Eames' face.

**WOW! This is getting to be a story that writes itself. I love it when that happens. Why I'm writing like crazy right now and posting twice a day. **

** I also appreciate that so many of you get how horrible women had it during the Great Depression with no husband. How business were not required to pay women equal to men. How they could pay slave ages because unions weren't there to make sure the workers rights were protected. **

** In the depression, people lost everything and there was no welfare, food stamps, unemployment or help outside of church services and minimal government relief programs. **

** It was scary times no one want's to go through again. **


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ The raid on the speakeasy was effortless. The front and back doors were broken down and an army of fifty men swarmed into the club like angry bees.

Arthur Darling's men managed to catch hold of forty crates of wine, seventy five bottles of gin, ten barrels of home brewed beer and crate after crate of hillbilly moonshine in mason jars.

It was a great find, one of the boys even taking a picture of the group of them standing on top of their swag before they broke the bottles and dumped it in the sewers. Let the rats get drunk.

~ Arthur's men also rounded up almost twenty girls in the front and in little bedrooms upstairs. Charges on the working girls couldn't be proven and Arthur told his men to let them go. It was too hard to prove an exchange of money had happened.

The real prize was the booze and that was what they were after.

~ Pleasure to see you again, Darling." Eames said in that cocky way of his. Arthur grimaced. Eames was the only one he knew who said his last name like an endearment.

"You to, Eames." Arthur grumbled as they watched the cops bust open crates of whine and other spirits into the sewers.  
"That's about $10,000 worth of refreshments your mates are tossing about, Darling." Eames said.

The fend wasn't even handcuffed an he lazily went to his breast pocket to retrieve a flask.

"Care for a nip?" he asked offering him a drink.

Arthur laughed.  
"What you lack in morality, you more then make up for with a sense of humor." he said.

"And good looks." Eames added as he took a swing. "Don't forget good looks."

"You we're also blessed with a in impressive right hook." Arthur added.

Eames was quite as the photographer snapped pictures of the large barrels of home brewed beer went down the the gutter.

"$20,000 right there, Darling." Eames said instead. "You even make $20,000 a year doing what you do?"

Arthur said nothing.  
"No, I think it's more like $5,000 a year, right? He laughed. "If that?"  
"You want to talk about the five men you put in the hospital last week? Two of them on the same night?" Arthur barked.  
"Darling, he pulled a knife on one of my girls. Had to have a word with Lenny and everything about patting down the boys." Eames said with an unapologetic shrug.

The bar owner shook his head as he pocketed his flask again.  
"You hit the guy so hard his jaw was broke and he was coughing up blood for two days. The other guy had to have emergency surgery to stop the internal bleeding. Witnesses say you took the both of them on without the help of your body guards." Arthur added with a nod to the beefy looking men in the paddy wagon.

"I keep those dogs out for show." Eames sighed as he asked Arthur for a cigarette. Arthur gave him one and the two men smoked quietly as it started to snow.  
"I don't like that part of this business, Darling." Eames said at last. "I do it, because it's necessary."

His speech was slightly impaired by the cigarette dangling from his mouth. Arthur realized that Eames looked neither worried or concerned at having his establishment raided and his inventory flushed away. He looked for all the world to be enjoying a night in the parking lot with an old friend.

"It's necessary to hire girls who sell themselves?" Arthur asked.  
"Everyone sells it, Darling." Eames laughed. "A wife sells it to her husband for room and board doesn't she? A man sells his labor on a shipyard or working the docks like my old man. The difference is, I run a clean joint where the girls are safe."

"The girls will be safer when you're in jail, Mr. Eames." Arthur said bitterly.

"Detective Darling?" came a rookie.

"Not now." Arthur grumbled.

"Sir, Cobb is asking for you." the rookie said.

Arthur sighed and stood up.

"I have to cuff you now." Arthur said. "I'll put you in Cobb's car, unless you want to ride in the paddy wagon?"

"I'd love a personal escort, Darling." Eames said. "Can I finish my smoke first? I don't want to mess up his car."

Arthur sighed as he cuffed Eames hands in front and let him finish is cigarette.

He left the rookie to watch Eames and went to see what Cobb wanted.  
~ "It's a tricky one, detective." one of the cops said.

"What happened?" Arthur asked as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"We have three women and three little girls here." Cobb grumbled as Arthur saw two older black women and the too thin, small girl he had tried to talk to a month ago.

They stood in a line with their arms wrapped protectively over the girls, none of them over the age of five, all of them looked scared.

"You the cooks?" Arthur asked.

The oldest black woman, her hair starting to gray and her eyes very bright looked up at him proudly.  
"Yes, sir. We don't do nothing but cook and clean. We don't go into the bar." she said.  
"What's you're name?"

"Lucy, sir."

"These are your kids?" he asked.  
"Mine, sir." came the other black woman who glared at him defiantly.  
"Your name?"

"Donna, sir." she said proudly. "My kids stay in the kitchen with me."

"Your kids are in the kitchen of a speakeasy and whore house." Arthur snapped back at her.

It was an easy thing to guess these women, hit harder then the whites during the depression wouldn't be able to make bail. They would spend a week in lock up waiting for a judge to charge them $10 which they wouldn't be able to pay. That would mean another month in lockup at the taxpayer's expense. They most likely had a family to support and bills to pay. Their girls would have to be found shelter for the night, and it would be a mess of paper work for him.

Arthur quickly decided they were more trouble then they were worth.

"You get out of here. Go home. You come back, I'll arrest you and it will be $10 to get you out. You got $10?" he huffed.  
"No, sir." the two black women said eagerly.

"Go!" Arthur spat as all three women jumped and made for the door.

He saw the too thin, too small girl from the bus stop try to leave with them.

"Not you!" he stormed as Cobb and the other officer closed the door to the kitchen.

The dark haired girl turned and looked at him. Her eyes huge as the little girl shrank beside her.

"That your girl?" Arthur asked feeling angry for some reason.

He couldn't deny he was expecting to see this girl in one of the seedy upstairs room. Perhaps with bruises on her arms from some customer.

"Yes." she said in a whisper.  
"Why did you bring her here? Not exactly a safe place for a girl her age." Arthur said as he pulled out a chair to sit down on. The raid, the smashing of all those crates of Eames' prized booze, it had taken it's toll on him and he was tired

"I can't afford to pay someone to watch her." she said as the little girl hid her face in her mothers apron.

Arthur looked the small woman up and down. It was clear she wasn't a girl from the bar room. She could be, but she was dressed in an ugly brown work dress. A full white apron and a scarf around her head.

"So you work in the kitchens? Not in the bar room? Not in the rooms upstairs?" Arthur asked.

"No, sir. Never." she told him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Ariadne."

"That your real name? Or the stage name Mr. Eames likes to give his girls." Arthur asked

"It's the name my mother gave me." she said.

"What the girl's name?"

"Rose."

"Well, you and Rosie might have to come to the station house till we get this sorted out." Arthur sighed.

"Can't you just let us go?" Ariadne asked worriedly.

"No." Arthur grumbled.  
"You let Lucy and Donna go." Ariadne argued.  
"Can you read and write?" Arthur asked instead.  
"Yes."

"Good. Then I want you to write down everything you saw and did while you worked here. I need to build a case against Mr. Eames and his-"

Arthur suddenly looked at the little girl. A miniature copy of her mother.

"Of Mr. Eames' other dealings. You're a nice looking woman, I'm sure he made you other offers. Your husband can pick you up in the morning." Arthur told her.  
"She hasn't got a husband!" the little girl barked ferociously. "Daddy left us and took all our money and we can't buy bananas or oranges!"  
"Rose. Stop it." Ariadne said soothingly as the girl started to cry.

"Listen to your mother, Rosie." Arthur grumbled.  
"Don't call her Rosie, that's not her name." Ariadne snapped at him.

Arthur felt he had insulted her and didn't understand.  
"All the Roses are called Rosie in New York." he said with a shrug.

"Well, she's not!" Ariadne snapped. "And don't tell her what to do; she's _my_ child."  
"Only until a judge see that what kind of mother would take her daughter to a whore house. Then it's jail for you and the orphanage for Rosie." Arthur said bitterly.

His head was hurting and he didn't like this complication. Didn't like having to talk to women like this.

"Mamma!" Rose cried into her mother's apron.

"Look." Ariadne said. A defeated expression on her face. "If I write down everything I've seen and done, will you let us go?"

"I'll drive you home myself." Arthur said.

Ariadne gave a little nod and Arthur pulled out a sheet of butcher block paper from the roll on the wall, and a ball point pen from his pocket.

With nice, girlish cursive, Ariadne wrote her month's stay in the kitchens of Mr. Eames. How he had first offered her work on the bar floor. Explaining how much she would make. How much she would make if she took a room and how she had asked to work in the kitchens instead.

While the mother wrote, Arthur eyed the little girl.  
She was the spitting image of Ariadne, only smaller. They even seemed to dress alike as she held a well loved china doll clutched tightly to her body.  
"Don't worry, Rosie." Arthur said. Unsure how to deal with children this young. "We're going to take you and you're mother home."

"It's cold outside!" Rose shouted. "Can't we sleep here?"

"No, Rose." Ariadne said from her writing.

"But it will be too cold, and we haven't eaten dinner!" Rose whined.  
"Rose, stop it!" Ariadne said and ran a hand nervously over her forehead.  
"Rosie, you ever been to Tommy's?" Arthur asked.  
"Who's he?" Rose asked suspiciously. Her brown eyes darkening the same way her mother's did when she was scared or angry.  
"He's a buddy of mine. Used to be a cop like me. He took a bad fall on the job and couldn't be a cop anymore, so he and his four useless brothers opened up an all night dinner for all us cops to have some place to go." Arthur explained.

Rose only scowled at him.  
"See, Rosie, no one likes cops around. They don't want us in their restaurants. So we needed a nice place to go and eat hamburgers and home fries. Where we can drink milkshakes-"

"Oranges?" Rose asked. Her eyes growing big.

"Sure, Tommy has oranges. You like pancakes? Tommy has pancakes to."

"Mamma, can we go there?" Rose asked.

"No, Rose. We have to go home." Ariadne said as she signed her name.

Arthur quickly read over it as Rose cried she was hungry and didn't want to be cold.

Ariadne was shushing her.  
"I only bring up Tommy because he always runs his mouth." Arthur said as he was pleased to read how Ariadne had turned down Eames' offer to sell herself.

A good feeling washing over him as he believed her. Ariadne was too prideful, to independent to reduce herself to that.

"Tommy bet me I couldn't bring in the two prettiest girls in New York." Arthur said as he folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. "If I brought you and your mother in, it would shut him up. We could have hamburgers and pancakes all night."

"Can we?" Rose asked her mother.  
"You can just take us home, like you said you would now." Ariadne said stiffly.  
"Mommy, I'm hungry!" Rose cried.  
"It's my treat." Arthur offered.  
"I said no, officer."

"Darling."

"Please, don't call me that!" Ariadne snapped at him.

Arthur almost laughed.

"No, it's my name. Darling." he said and tried not to smile.

Ariadne looked at him curiously.

"Darling. Like the family in Peter Pan?" Arthur added hopefully.

"Peter Pan?" Rose asked hopefully. "Did you know him?"

"Oh no, Rosie." Arthur said as he stooped to meet the little girl's eye line. "Peter and the other lost boys never came to my house."

Rose grinned at him and showed a fantastic loss of front teeth.

Arthur stood up and felt uncomfortable under Ariadne's glare.

"I guess I should drive you home." he said at last.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ The orgy of smashing crates and breaking bottles was still ongoing as Arthur walked Ariadne and Rose to his car.

"Detective?" a rookie came over to them as he opened the door for the woman and child.  
"That Eames guy wants to talk to you." he said out of breath.

"Of course he does." Arthur sighed.

He had to take this woman and her girl home, do a mountain of paper work, and he didn't want to talk to Eames again tonight.

"Wait here?" Arthur said as Rose whined she was hungry and Ariadne put her finger to her lips.

~ Arthur marched over to Cobb's car to see Eames seated in the back seat. The man looking like a millionaire waiting for his driver to take him through the park.  
"What is it Eames?" Arthur barked.  
"Hello, Darling." Eames said with a cat like grin. "Listen, I forgot to tell you. I've got three cooks in the kitchen. All women, none of whom are worth your time to lock up."

"I knew, we found them." Arthur said.

Eames looked a little surprised.  
"Good. That good. One of them is a nice looking girl. I want you to know she was never a waitress." Eames said. "No need to take her in."

"Ariadne?" Arthur asked.  
Eames nodded.  
"I was about to take her home." Arthur said.  
"Look." Eames said as he took out his wallet from his coat pocket. Eames was searched for a gun or knife before, but his wallet and flask were all returned to him.  
"I don't trust the boys in holding and I've got $200 here. Can you give it to Ariadne?" Eames said. "I feel bad she's out of a job because of you."

Arthur slammed the car door shut and growled at Cobb to take Eames away.

~ The roads were hard going as Arthur drove across town to take them home.  
"You'll find another job." he offered lamely. Feeling bad this single mother was now without income.  
"I had a job!" she snapped as Rose sat on her mother's lap. The child staring worriedly at him with big eyes.

"In the kitchens." Arthur added. "That's can't pay much. What, $7 a week?"

"$10." Ariadne corrected.  
"$10." Arthur repeated. "Eames pays well."

"Still wasn't enough." Ariadne sighed. "It paid rent and not bus fare, not food. I... I just couldn't make the math work."

Arthur said nothing as she sniffed back a sob.  
"I brought Rose to work because I couldn't afford the $2.50 a week is would have cost the sitter. I felt she was safer with me anyway." she said as she buried her face in Rose's hair.  
Arthur didn't know what to say. He didn't make much on his salary, he was no Mr. Eames, but he had always been able to pay the rent and buy what he needed. He never thought about how ever nickel must count for this woman.

"That job didn't pay much, but it was better that nothing." Ariadne went on. "I know it was wrong to bring her there, but please don't take her away, officer."

"It's detective." Arthur told her. "I have no plans to take her away."

~ They arrived at a run down tenement building. The snow was falling heavier now and it was bitterly cold.  
"No, mamma!" Rose whined as Ariadne told her to get out of the car.

"Rose, come on!" Ariadne shouted as she looked ready to cry.

"No!" Rose screamed back at her. "I'm cold!"

"Come here, Rosie." Arthur said as he scooped the little girl up effortlessly. "I wouldn't want to walk in the snow either."

Rose wore a big grin as Arthur carried her up the stairs of the freezing cold building.

"I'm sorry, we live in the attic." Ariadne said with an embarrassed flush as she unlocked the door to their little apartment.

Arthur was scowling at Rose's broken shoes. The soles of them were worn away and her toes had broken free of the leather.

He tried to push away the feeling he had hurt these two buy raiding Mr. Eames' place and let Rose down on the floor.  
"Thank you, officer." Ariadne said trying to block him from looking into their dark room.

"Darling, mamma!" Rose offered. "His name is Darling."

"Thank you for the ride home." she said and pushed Rose behind her.

Arthur eyes her suspiciously.

"Can you turn the lights on?" he asked.

"I will, when we're inside." she said with a false brightness.  
"Can you turn the lights on now, please?" he asked.

She gave him a sour look and Rose, ever helpful, pipped up.

"We don't have lights or gas, Officer Darling! We put snow in the ice box to keep the food cool and we can't even cook it!" she cried out.

Arthur sighed.  
"Your power's been shut off?" he asked.  
"I told you I couldn't make the math work. It was rent or electric. Couldn't have both."

Arthur thought bitterly of the $200 Mr. Eames had in his pocket. He may have paid better than most for a kitchen worker, but it was still starving wages.

"Come with me." Arthur said with a sigh.

Rose almost jumped from behind her mother and wanted Arthur to carry her downstairs again.

"No, we're home." Ariadne argued as she pulled Rose away.  
"Your home is freezing, Ma'am." he scolded.  
"We're fine. We'll be under the covers."

"I'm taking you to a place where you'll be warm tonight." Arthur insisted.  
"No, we're not going to a shelter. Bad people are there." Ariadne almost cried.

Arthur let out a sigh.  
"I'm not taking you to a shelter." he mumbled.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ Ariadne wondered where this Arthur Darling was taking them. Rose was seated in her lap and about to fall asleep as he drove them to a clean little neighborhood with streetlights on.

"Where are we?" she whispered as she expected to see a church or a large building that was a woman's shelter.

"My apartment." Arthur told them. "Or it was my mother's until she passed away last year."

Ariadne wanted to say she was sorry about his loss but Arthur took Rose, now snoring lightly in his arms. Her head nestled on his shoulder as they went quietly up the stairs.

"It's too late tonight to find you two a place to stay." he whispered.  
"We have a place to stay." said bitterly holding the suitcase he had made her pack for the both of them.

"A place that's not an ice box." Arthur snapped back.

The both of them talking in whispers so as not to wake Rose.

They climbed the stairs to the third floor and Arthur asked her to retrieve the keys to his door out of his pocket. His arms were still holding Rose.

Ariadne was flicked on the lights and was rewarded with a warm, comfortable looking one bedroom apartment.

"You two can sleep here." Arthur whispered as he laid the little girl down on a carefully made full sized bed.  
"Thank you." Ariadne whispered as she pulled off Rose's shoes.

Lacking anything else to do, Arthur took the little battered, broken shoes from her and placed them neatly under the bed for safe keeping.

"The bathroom is off of the kitchen." he whispered as she tucked Rose in, fully dressed. The child looking cozy under warm blankets after such a horrible night.  
"I'm not sure what I have in the ice box, but, you're welcome to it." he whispered.

"We'll be fine and out in the morning." she told him as he left them to sleep.

~ Arthur hadn't grown up in this apartment. His mother had lived here after his father died five years ago. He had been a cop, just like Arthur, and had been killed trying to stop a robbery. One of those low life gangster heroes the news was always braging about. No one giving a thought to the families of the men in uniform being killed.

His brother died a year later on the job as well. His mother, knowing her husband, sons and brothers all bled blue, understood the price of the job and with her late husband's and son's pensions, bought this little one bedroom apartment and lived alone. She had taken ill with some kind of cancer last winter and died here. Leaving the apartment, still looking like an old lady's home, to her only surviving child, Arthur.

Arthur sat in his father's old reading chair and started to work on the paper work as he could hear Ariadne move around in the bedroom. He hoped he could find them a place in the morning, but with the arrest, he couldn't make Ariadne and Rosie a priority just now.

They had a safe place for tonight, that was what matter.

He looked over his mother's old furniture. The matching living room chairs she bought from Sears when she first got married. The singer sewing machine with foot pedals his father bought her and she had sewn all their clothing on. The couch they got when his aunt Helen died and was only used for company.

Then, there was his father's liquor cabinet. He had no idea why his mother kept the thing. His father would come home, before prohibition, and wouldn't even kiss his wife hello. Instead, he went strait to the handsomely decorated liquor cabinet, unlock it and fix himself a drink.

Arthur hated it when his father drank. He always did it to excess and there were too many fights, too many times when he and his brother had to avoid their father.

When prohibition took effect, his father had slowed his drinking a little. But only a little. There had been horrible spells of TD and even worse, the times when he had drank bad moonshine and had to be rushed to the hospital.

After his father died, a relief entered the family home. His father was a hero, and no one remembered the drinking. Or if they did, they said nothing about it.

Arthur had decided long ago that he wouldn't drink. He believed in the teetotalers and that alcohol was a vice of evil doers. The proof he needed was at his finger tips. Mr. Eames ran a bar and sold girls on the side. It was all the things that was wrong with the world. What was worse, the bastard might be out in a few days on bond.

It was a never ending war that Arthur felt they were losing ground on all the time. Public opinion was not on their side anymore. No one listened to the mean face old matrons who preached of the sin of the drink. The picture shows made rum runners, speakeasies and gangsters seem heroic.

Arthur let out a long sigh and kicked off his shoes. He stretched out on the couch and covered up with his mother's old quilt.

Everything was alright tonight. Ariadne and that little girl were safe for tonight, and he would think about that to do with them tomorrow.

~ Ariadne wasn't sure why she woke up so early. When she opened her eyes, she wasn't sure where she was at first. The room was alien to her; the bed and coverings we're her own.

Then she groaned and remembered everything. The raid, that Detective Darling and how he wouldn't mind his own business.

Rose. Where's Rose?

She searched the bedding for a warm little body and couldn't find it. Rose would always sleep next to her and it was a shock to wake up without her in this strange place.

"Rose?" Ariadne whispered to the room as daylight had yet to break over the city.

She jumped out of bed as quietly as she could and opened the door to the bedroom.

She saw a tiny little living room with nice furnishings and saw him sleeping on a pretty, Victorian style sofa.

"Rose?" she whispered into the still apartment and heard a toilet flushing.

She breathed a sigh of relief as her girl came out of the bathroom by the kitchen and wandered back to her.

"Morning." the girl said with sleepy eyes as Ariadne took her hand.

"He's sleeping, Mamma." Rose said as Ariadne pulled her back into the bedroom and under the covers.  
"I know." Ariadne said to her daughter as she spied a little alarm clock on Arthur's night stand. "I think he gave us his bed last night, sweetheart."

She saw the time on the clock was almost six in the morning and the alarm was set for seven.

"Mamma, I'm hungry." Rose whispered as Ariadne brushed out her daughter's hair and braided it.

"Me to." Ariadne said.

~ Arthur awoke to the smells of cooking.

His mother making pancakes and frying eggs and potatoes in the kitchen. He rolled over and wondered why his bed was so lumpy and uncomfortable. Why his night clothes were so restrictive.

He opened his eyes to see the living room ceiling and tried to remember where he was.  
"Mamma, can we have jam with the pancakes?" came a little voice from the kitchen.

Arthur sat up at the sounds of female whispering coming across the room.

His memories finding him again. His mother wasn't cooking; that girl from Eames' place was. The voices belonged to her and Rosie.

He stood up and realized the old sofa belonging to aunt Helen was seldom used for a reason. It was lumpy and uncomfortable for sleeping on.

He wandered into the tiny little kitchen, still in his clothes from last night, and found the sight of two cooks at work.

"Hello, officer Darling." Rosie called out to him.  
"It's _Detective_ Darling." he said with a smile as the child was setting three plates at the table. Arthur only used one plate, one knife, one fork, one spoon, glass and bowl. That way, his dishes never piled up. The rest he had packed up. Ariadne must have found them and pressed them into service again.  
"Smells good, ladies." he said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  
"I hope you don't mind." Ariadne said from her place at the stove. She was turning over fried potatoes with lots of butter and onions in them. Arthur felt his mouth water at the smell of them cooking. "I wanted to thank you for taking us in last night. I thought a home cooked meal would be nice."

"It is nice. I haven't had one in a while." he admitted as he watched them cook.  
He felt little eyes on him and saw the girl was grinning at him with her missing front teeth.  
"Rosie, why don't you get the jam from the ice box for me?" he asked and she jumped to fetch it.

"I think after we eat, Rose and I will be going." Ariadne said as she forked over pancakes, eggs and potatoes on his plate.  
"It's no hurry." Arthur sighed as he wolfed down the sizzling potatoes first. The over use of butter sang in his mouth as he couldn't remember eating so well.  
"No, we've imposed on you too much already." Ariadne said as Rose lavishly spread jam on her pancakes. "That's enough, Rose." Ariadne said taking the jar away form her.

"Rosie, I don't like that jam. I was hoping you could use the last of it for me." Arthur told the child.

Rose looked happy to obliged as Ariadne gave him a worried look.

"Ariadne, like I said, there is no rush at all. I have to go to the station today and do some paper work on Mr. Eames and his boys. I'll be home late." he told her.  
"Well, we should go before you leave." she said worriedly as Rose ate pancakes smothered in jam.

"Go where? Back to the ice box?" he asked in a whisper.  
She didn't look at him.  
"It's December now. It's too cold for you to be walking that far with the girl. I can give you bus fare, but you'll only be in a cold apartment again. Stay here till we can find you something better." he offered.

"I've got the rent paid until January." she said.  
"No power or gas." he argued.

She gave him a sad, bitter look as he sipped on the coffee she had percolated.

It was good. The best he had ever drank in fact. The whole meal was good and one he would have paid a dollar for at the local diner.

"Rosie, you're mother's a good cook." Arthur said.  
"Rose. It's _Rose_." Ariadne told him stiffly.  
"Sorry. Rose." Arthur said apologetically.

"He can all me Rosie." Rose said happily as her nose had a spot of jam on it.

Ariadne wiped it off with her napkin and told the girl to help her with the dishes.

~ As Arthur was dressing, he heard Rosie singing in the kitchen as she dried the dishes her mother washed.  
"In the big rock candy mountains, there's a land that's fair and bright." she sang. Getting a few of the words wrong in the process.

Arthur looked at his large stack of laundry he would have to take down to be washed. Two weeks worth of crumpled dress shirts, slack and ties. He was too busy to take the laundry out like he needed to; it was becoming a problem.

"Mamma, are the big rock candy mountains real?" Rose was asking.  
"No, Rosie." Arthur said as he came out of the bedroom in his hastily put on shirt and tie. "The big rock candy mountains is hobo heaven."

"They don't go to regular heaven?" Rose asked curiously.

Arthur had to laugh. It was a bit early to have theological discussions.

Ariadne was trying not to smile as she placed the last of the dishes in the cupboard.

"I guess everyone can have a different heaven if the want one." Arthur said as he left them for the day.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

~ The precinct was wild with activity that morning. Hearings for Eames and his boys would start in a week and already lawyers were hungry to represent the nefarious speakeasy owner.

~ "Who are you?" Arthur asked a tall, very thin young man.

"Robert Fischer." he said arrogantly. "Of Fischer and Fischer."

"Of course. You representing Mr. Eames will get your name in the paper." Arthur chuckled as Cobb was yelling in the phone at his desk. Something about the bouncers getting into a fight in holding.

"Everyone deserves good representation, Detective Darling." Fischer said not looking him in the eye.

"Fair enough." Arthur said. "I'm going to assume Mr. Eames wants your representation, and tell you he was caught managing the largest cash of illegal liquor we've ever come across in this city. He had girls working there, some as young as seventeen, who we know to have been involved in prostitution. We have charged him with illegal transportation and sale of sprites under the Volstead Act of 1919." Arthur told him feeling oddly happy and triumphant.

"Now, if he releases his contacts, who he buys from and his other bars. We might could reduce his sentence.

"That won't be necessary, Detective Darling." Fischer said with a roll of his eyes. "We're going to have him out tonight."

Arthur laughed.

"That will be an interesting trick, sir." he said.  
"No trick, Detective." Fischer said. "The Volstead Act is currently being re-examined by the supreme court. Or don't you read the papers?" Fischer said in a soft, condescending voice of a man too educated.

"Well, Mr. Fischer, it may one day be repealed, but that day is not today. You're client, broke the law." Arthur said.

"Did he?" Fischer said with a raised eyebrow. "Where is your proof?"

"The crates of moonshine, wine, beer and gin that were recovered from his speakeasy." Arthur said with a smile.

"Can you produce this incriminating evidence?" Fisher asked.  
"It's out policy to destroy the booze on sight." Arthur told him. A cold, creeping feeling was seeping into his belly.  
"I see. So the evidence again my client is in the crapper, so to speak." Fischer said with a little chuckle.

"We have pictures." Arthur said. "Of the barrels of beer and sprites as our men were breaking them open."

"I see." Fisher said with that irritating roll of his eyes. "But no proof they came from Mr. Eames' establishment."

"This isn't a murder trial, Mr. Fischer." Arthur said suddenly very angry. "We don't have prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

"No, but you do have to prove the alleged crime actually happened." Fischer bit back. "Your over eager boys were in the habit of destroying the alleged spirits. There is no longer proof of any crime other than your word, and quite frankly, that's called into question to."

"How so?" Arthur snarled.

Fischer rolled his eyes again and Arthur fought the urge to slap him.  
"Do I need to remind you about Mr. Nash and his interview in the New Yorker? How he catered to several New York City Policemen in his establishment in ten years since prohibition took effect." Fischer said.

The cocky lawyer looked at Arthur.  
"I seem to recall a police officer named Darling in the list of names as well. Not you I trust. Your brother, uncle... _father_?" Fisher said with a smug grin.

~ "He's being released?" Arthur shouted to the police chief.

The tired, overweight man looked grumpy as he sat down in his chair and glared at Cobb and Arthur.  
"Fischer came in here and ripped our case apart. The DA won't touch it now." he said as Arthur looked ready to explode.

"Six months we've been building evidence on Eames." he said bitterly.

"What's the deal with breaking the booze now anyway? We've always done it before and got convictions. And we've sent rum runners to Blackwell's island with a lot less evidence than we have on Eames." Cobb added.

"Times are changing, boys." The chief said running a hand over his bald head. "The politicians are wet and the so are the preachers. No one wants to be dry in a depression. If Roosevelt is serious about running for the white house, prohibition will be over."

~ Arthur and Cobb were forced to watch as Eames and his boys were trotted out with Mr. Fisher at their side.

"Don't feel bad, Darling." Eames said with a cat like smile that put Fischer's smugness to shame. "I'm sure I'll give you another chance. We never change our ways."

"I'll be ready." Arthur shouted after him.

~ It had been a long day. A long, horrible day and Arthur was tired, hungry and ready to quite New York, the job and move to California to pick oranges all day in the sunshine. The big rock candy mountains were sounding sweet to him just now.

He had forgotten his tiny one bedroom apartment was recently taken over by the fairer sex, and at entering it, thought his closet had exploded.

He saw his dress shirts, his pants and ties all hanging on a homemade indoor close lines that had been strung around every available space.

The radio was humming with the spicy songs of Billy Holiday and he could smell the inviting fragrance of laundry soap and a roast cooking in the oven.

He wadded though his shirts drying on the lines to see Ariadne and Rose in the living room. His mother's ironing board out and the two of them at work pressing and putting his dress shirts on hangers. Ariadne was carefully ironing with the electric iron he bought his mother just before she died.

Rosie was busy folding his shirts or hanging them back up.

Arthur realized the two girls hadn't seen or heard him come in as they were both occupied in their work and both of them severely under dressed.

Ariadne was in a dress slip, and Rose was in her night gown. Arthur spotted their own shabby dresses hanging dry on the line as well.

He cleared his throat to let them know he had come home.

Ariadne looked up and almost tripped over the ironing board trying to cover herself with one of his suit jackets. Her face turning bright red and him catching her almost naked.

Arthur made a show of looking the other way as Rose clambered behind her mother and hid her skinny body from view was well. The child peeking out from behind Ariadne with her mother's look-a-like face.

"You're home early." Ariadne gasped as she smoothed out her freshly washed hair that hung in nice shinny waves.

"Um, not as much paper work as I thought today." Arthur offered lamely. He looked around the laundry room that was once his apartment. "You girls did the wash I see."

"Well, I was going to just do ours after we took a bath." Ariadne explained breathing hard. Her face still red with embarrassment. "You had the scrub board there in the bathroom and all. Then I found the pile in you're closet when I went looking for hangers to dry them on. I decided it was the right thing to do. Since you've been so nice by letting us stay here."

She was explaining all this very fast as Arthur wadded and ducked over lines of drying dress shirts. A good deal of them had already been washed, dried and ironed.  
"I didn't realize I had so many." Arthur mused as he stopped counting after 20.

"Yes, we've been busy." Ariadne tried to laugh but it came out a little nervous.

"You have more shirts that anyone!" Rose accused from behind her mother.  
"You are right about that, Rosie." Arthur said. He looked at Ariadne. Her pink cheeks, her dark hair falling past her shoulders, her too thin body wearing his jacket over her slip.  
"Thank you." he said at last.  
"We also made dinner." Rose called back to him. "We we're just going to make you dinner, but Mamma said we have to do the washing!"

Arthur tried to look in the kitchen but his view was obstructed by the line of shirts. Never the less, he could smell some kind of stew cooking on the stove top.  
"I didn't really have much in the icebox or pantry." he said wondering where she got whatever she was cooking. Arthur ate at the coffee house most days, and lived off scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, lunch meat and bread when he didn't. Like every single man, he didn't know how to feed himself and only knew how to fry eggs and heat up a potato in the kitchen.

"We went to the market and bought a few things." Ariadne said as she buttoned up his jacket like a robe.  
He had to think.

"With what money?" he asked.  
"Mine." she told him simply. "I had a little saved up for rent next month."

"Can't ask you to spend your money on me." he said as he couldn't seem to walk around his own home without running into clothing left to dry.  
"Why do you have so many shirts?" Rose asked. A little scowl on her face.

Arthur felt embarrassed.  
"Well, Rosie- I mean Rose, I don't know how to wash my own clothes, so I take them to the lady down the street. She washes and dose the dry cleaning and the mending for me." he told her. "I put it off because I'm always busy, and just buy new shirts."

"That's a waste of money!" Rose cried from behind her mother's back.

"You're right about that, Rosie." he laughed as he looked for a place to sit.  
"Why don't you have a bath or something?" Ariadne offered. "Dinner won't be ready for a while."

He nodded and took his more relaxed Saturday pants and shirt off of the hangers and went to the bathroom. He was mortified to see she had washed his boxers as well.

**I'm writing like crazy right now becasue I want to have a special fan request Chirstmas chapter for this story. But it's still a ways off. I may be posting 2-3 chapters a day.** **I like to keep my chapters short, I think they are easier to read that way. **


	9. Chapter 9

9.

~ Ariadne waited until she heard the sounds of running water from the bathroom, and then quickly redressed in her everyday clothes. Hurriedly repining her hair as Rose giggled and dressed with speed beside her.

'_How long was he there watching us in nothing but my slip on?_' she thought. She was as bad as Alma. But they had nothing else to wear that was clean after their baths and all that nice smelling laundry soap. So much nicer than the cheap brand she bought for $0.20 at the store. This soap was perfumed and everything.

"Mamma, he's going to eat your stew and he's going to fall in love with you!" Rose hissed an excited little whisper.  
"No he's not, Rose. We're only staying because of the storm." she said looking worriedly out the window. The snowfall was coming down really heavy now and she felt a little afraid of the menacing cold that was wanting to invade the cozy apartment.

But Arthur's home was warm and comfortable. The old lady furnishings were welcoming and Rose helped her to take down all of Arthur's clothes, some not fully dried, from the line. She suspected he took his wash to the dry cleaners, and no doubt paid an unseemly $3.00 for the privilege of it. She figured it would save him money is she did it herself. Maybe he would insist they stay another night and not in that too cold attic room.

In one day of cleaning and cooking in this apartment, she had grown to like it.

"He might fall in love with you." Rose whispered as they hung shirts, some ironed, some not, back in his closet. "Then you can get married and we could be called Darling. I like that name."

"I do to, Rose. But I'm already married. You're Papa, remember him?" Ariadne asked.  
"You said he wasn't coming back." Rose said. Confusion written on her face. "You sold you wedding band to the pawn shop."

Ariadne let out a sigh. The pawn broker had been generous for giving her $10 for the matching gold wedding bands after Bill left. Her husband rolling his own band on the table as a sign he didn't want to be married to her anymore.

In anger, she took the bands to the pawn broker the next day and sold them. She paid the electric and gas, and even bought a chicken to roast for dinner. It was the best $10 she had ever spent.

"Your papa isn't coming back." Ariadne said sadly.

"He stole our money to." Rose said bitterly.

She looked over her little girl. It was so unfair that Rose had to be going through this. The child not having a decent place to live, her own bed or even good food. It wasn't fair Ariadne couldn't find a job to support the both of them. She had done everything right, how had she ended up here?

She had been a good girl and was a virgin when she got married. She had a daughter in wedlock and her husband had worked steady for years. They paid their bills on time and saved their money.

How had she been reduced to doing the wash in a stranger's apartment, hoping he would let her and her child stay another night so they wouldn't freeze in the storm?

Maybe Bill was right, maybe she was a bad mother. She worked in kitchens, typing pools and none of it made enough money for rent, food and power.

She had been so lost in her thinking, the mindless work of ironing, that she didn't realize Arthur had come out of the bathroom and was talking to her.

"Ariadne?" he asked as suddenly he was sitting in one of the living room chairs. His hair washed and a curious look on his face.

"Oh." she said breaking out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what we're you saying?"

"I said, I'm sorry I forgot to look into getting you a place at the shelter tonight. They might be all filled up anyway. The boys at the station said there's a storm coming tonight and it's already snowing really hard." he added to the flurry outside the window.  
~ Rose was looking out the window next to Arthur. Her warm breath fogging the cold glass.

"Mamma, the sidewalk is gone." she said looking scared.

"You two might as well stay another night." he offered as she hung up the last of his shirts. "I mean, you washed all my clothes, it's the least I can do."

"I'm not going to argue with you this time. Thank you." she said feeling a shiver at the thought of trying to sleep in their old apartment.

Rose gave her a happy grin and went to the corner to play with her two dolls. Her contented chirping as she told her 'babies', not to worry.

The adults in the room were left to awkwardly talk to one another.

Ariadne nodded to the nicely framed pictures on the wall of several men in police uniform.

"Your whole family are cops?" she asked as she spotted a very young looking Arthur in his Academy graduation uniform.

Arthur felt oddly embarrassed.

"Yeah, my father, brother, my uncles and _all_ my male cousins on both sides. It's what we were born to do." he admitted.

His mother had proudly displayed her late son and husband's pictures on the wall next to her two brothers above the rest of the photographs. Black ribbons tied over the frames to show they had died in the line of duty.

"That's your brother?" Ariadne asked. "He looks a lot like you."

"Yeah, I always looked up to him." Arthur admitted.

He hoped Ariadne wouldn't ask anymore about about his family and how they lived and died. It was enough his mother preserved their honor. He knew she could tell by the black ribbons they had passed away in the past few years.  
"Did you always want to be a cop?" she asked instead as she finished ironing his shirts.

Arthur sat back in his chair and looked at the framed pictures of himself and his cousins.

"I actually never thought about any other career, to be honest." he admitted. "I suppose I could have been a fire fighter, but then my family wouldn't have spoken to me again." he said with a laugh.

Ariadne gave him a smile.

He sighed as he leaned back in his father's chair; looking over the proud lineage of Darling men on his wall. Some of the pictures going back to the Civil war.

"My old man would come home, sit right in this chair and talk to us about his whole day. The police force isn't just a job or a calling, it's a second family. After he died, the other wives were there for us. Protecting us and making sure we were alright." Arthur admitted. "How can you turn your back on family?"

He looked over her face as the heat from the iron made her cheeks flush a deep pink.

"Do you have any family?" Arthur asked. "People who could take you both in?"

Ariadne shook her head.  
"My parents are living with my sister and her husband in Philadelphia. Things are bad there to. Not enough room for Rose and I even if we could afford the train to get back. Even then, no jobs." she said sadly. "You're lucky. To have them as well as a job right now."

She hung the last of his shirts up and wiped her sweating brow off.

"Yeah, some luck. They let Mr. Eames go." he told her feeling that bitter whelp of anger surface.

"What?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, lack of evidence, can you believe that?" he laughed. "We've been breaking barrels into the sewers since prohibition started, and never had a problem. In fact, I had just graduated from the academy when prohibition started. I wanted to go in that department from the beginning. I was even excused from going to fight in Europe because the cause for prohibition was so great. But now, no one wants to prosecute bootleggers anymore. Roosevelt is governor of New York, and a Democrat, which means he's going to go soft for the wet side. If he becomes president, which I think he will, he will most certainly repeal prohibition."

~ Arthur looked like he was about to have a fit of the sulks. The way Rose would act when she didn't get her way.

"I'm sorry, Arthur." Ariadne said as she took a pile of his handkerchiefs to iron.

"He's already back on the streets. Most likely he'll open his club up and no judge will give we a warrant to search or raid the place again after we destroyed evidence." he said.

Ariadne wanted to say something to make him feel better, but didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to talk to cops anyway. Arthur was from a whole family of police men. They married girls who's fathers and brothers were also 'on the job' and she could never fit into this world.

"Rose." She said instead. "Come here and learn how to iron."

Rose abandoned her dolls and happily went to the ironing board. Ariadne pulled up a kitchen chair for the little girl to stand on and showed her how to slowly move the iron over Arthur's cotton handkerchiefs.

~ Arthur watched them for a while as the two pretty girls, suddenly in his house, worked with the iron he was afraid to use. He could handle guns, gangsters, rum runners, moonshiners and pimps. But the stupid iron would heat up so fast, he was afraid he would burn the house down if he messed with it. Which was why he paid the lady at the dry cleaners $4 for washing and ironing his clothes.

He pulled out the paper he had forgotten he had bought on the way home and scanned over the banner headline.

His brow furrowing over a picture of Eames and his cocky lawyer Fischer proclaiming he had gotten off after only a few hours in jail. Mr. Eames even had the nerve to say the city jails were a nice place to stay on a cold night and he would recommend breaking the law to have the good food they served there.

Arthur felt the tightening go to his chest again and sat his paper on his lap.

He looked at the two girls at their ironing then, the way Ariadne had her arms around Rose's. Careful to keep her little fingers away from the hot iron. Rose would proudly fold the newly pressed handkerchiefs and start on a new one as her mother was careful she wouldn't burn herself.

He felt the tension in his chest ease a little at the sight of them.


	10. Chapter 10

10.

~ Dinner was marvelous. Arthur wasn't used to eating well in his own home, and the snow fall outside, the cold, made him eat three bowlfuls of the beef stew Ariadne had slow cooked over the stove. She had even made something called cornbread and it tasted warm and sweet as it crumbled in his mouth.  
"Is this made with real corn?" he asked as he looked at the heavy, yellow bread.

Ariadne giggled.  
"It's made from cornmeal. My mother was from the south, her family came north for work when she was little. She knew all the best southern recipes and she said it was most important to make cornbread." she explained.

"Well, it's good." Arthur told her as he was feeling fat and sleepy.

"Thank you." she whispered.  
"Momma's a good cook, Mr. Darling." Rose said.  
"I know she is, Rosie." Arthur agreed.

~ "Rose and I can sleep out here tonight, Arthur." she told him as he made up the couch.  
"Don't be silly. I won't have you sleeping on the floor while I have that big bed in there." he said.

When all of his drying shirts had been ironed and neatly folded or hung up, Arthur had discovered Ariadne had also cleaned the apartment while he was out.

His untidy stacks of newspapers, his to go boxes and other bachelor debris has been organized or tossed out. The apartment looked as spotless as if his mother was still living there. A woman who prided herself on keeping a clean home.

"No, it's not right." Ariadne insisted.  
Arthur didn't want to argue. He was too full, the house smelled good and he we was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

~ "Wake up! Wake up!" Rose was crying the next morning.

Arthur didn't remember falling asleep, the next thing he knew, Rose was shaking him awake.  
"What is it Rosie?" he groaned. He felt cheated out of sleep as daylight was already breaking out of the windows.  
"We're snowed in! We're trapped! We're trapped!" she cried happily.

Arthur sat up to see Ariadne was looking worriedly out the front window. He joined her to peer out at the slowly falling white flakes that had accumulated overnight to cover not just the streets, but his car as well.

"Must be three feet of snow out there." she whispered as she pulled her worn sweater over her body tighter.

Arthur was grumbling as he pulled on a second pair of socks and went to his father liquor cabinet he used as make shift file storage. His telephone was there and he dialed the station to see where they would want him today. The click-click of the rotary phone spinning seemed awfully loud as Rose looked at him to see what to do.

Mavis, the frumpy dispatcher, picked up the line and Arthur sleepily told her his name and asked where he would be sent.  
"Chief wants you and your barrel breaking boys to shovel snow with the linemen by the hospital." she told him in her thick Brooklyn accent.

"Come on, Mavis." Arthur groaned. He would rather direct traffic or walk the streets with Cobb keeping the peace. Anything but snow shoveling with the boys from the power company.

"Chief is none too pleased with you right now, Darling." Mavis laughed. "I think his exact words were; 'Tell Darling to get his skinny ass to Bellevue hospital and make sure he doesn't destroy any evidence if he sees a crime'."

"Thanks Mavis." Arthur groaned as he went to his closet to get his winter clothes out. Thankful Ariadne has washed everything.  
"Where are you going?" she asked him.

"It's a blizzard. I have to go." he said.

"Arthur, is three feet deep, you can't even get your car out." she told him as he pulled on thick pants and a flannel shirt.

"We have to, it's apart of the job. People commit crimes in this weather. Mostly, they just need help. Fire department is out there to along with the power company guys and the sandhogs. We all have to shovel snow, direct traffic and make sure there's no looting." he told her.

"Looting?" Ariadne asked worriedly.  
"Yeah, store owners can't get to their shops, kids break the windows and steal. It's a mess. We all act as police, fire fighters and rescue workers." he told her.

"Let me make you something to eat before you leave." she told him as she set the kettle to boil.  
"I'm still full from last night." he told her. His belly feeling uncomfortably large.  
"You need to have some coffee to keep you warm. It's freezing out!" Ariadne protested.  
"I'll be fine. I've done this before." he told her as he shouldered on his coat and Ariadne tied on a blue scarf his mother had made for him.

"Just do me a favor, stay indoors, the snow is too deep." he said.  
"I want to play in the snow before the other kids mess it up!" Rose hollered from the window.  
"No, Rosie, the snow is too deep and it's too cold. You mind me now." he told her.

"We'll, stay inside." Ariadne promised as she tied a warm hat on his head.

He wasn't sure why he kissed her then. Perhaps because it was the natural thing to do. His parents always kissed quickly before his father went to work in the morning. He would leave the apartment with the boys shouting and his mother worrying.

It was normal for his father to kiss his mother on the lips. She was his wife. So, wasn't it normal to kiss Ariadne in the lips as he was about to leave the apartment?

A hurried, stay safe and have a good day, kiss they had both seen a thousand times in their own parents. Ariadne didn't stiffen or pull away from him. Her lips meeting his as she also seemed to feel it was normal.

Almost immediately, however, they stood looking at one another in amazement. Arthur feeling that old friend embarrassment hovering between them.

"I better go." he said and hurried out the door.

~ "Cobb?" Arthur asked as the surprisingly pleasant work of shoveling snow at the hospital was giving Arthur a chance to catch up with his friend.

"What is it?" Cobb asked as they worked to free the drive of the hospital of snow and ice so ambulances could come in. The other men were working to shovel out of the paths to the other buildings of the hospital.

Everywhere Arthur could see were fire fighters, line men and sand hogs shoveling streets and chasing off hoodlum kids who were eying empty store fronts.

"Remember that girl from Eames' place?" Arthur asked.

"You'll have to be more specific." Cobb panted as her shoveled off a large patch of snow.  
"The girl from the kitchen. The one I chased down the street a month before the raid." Arthur said.

"The pretty one. Yeah I remember her." Cobb said. "Why?"

"Well, the night of the raid, she didn't have a place to go. Her apartment had no power and she had her kid with her." Arthur explained.

Cobb stopped his shoveling and looked at him.

"I didn't know what else to do, so I took her and the kid home with me. She's at my apartment right now." Arthur confessed.  
"Arthur, when I nagged you to find yourself a girl, I didn't think you would take it so literally." Cobb laughed. "A least get to know her first, Jeez."

"Not funny, Cobb." Arthur grumbled as they started to shovel snow again. "I came home yesterday to find she had washed all of my clothes, cooked a nice dinner and cleaned the apartment. I don't know what to do."

Cobb started laughing.

"Hey McCourt! Harding!" he shouted to the nearby men from their precinct. "Arthur has a problem! He has this pretty girl in his apartment who washed all his clothes, cooks and cleans for him. He doesn't know what to do about it!"

The other men started to laugh and one man lewdly grabbed his groin to show Arthur what he thought.

"Ha! Ha!" Arthur shouted to the men. "Thanks a lot, Cobb."

~ Arthur felt tired all the way to his bones as the streets around the hospital were finally clear and slow moving traffic was able to bring people in.

He walked home and ignored how cold his feet were. He should have put on an extra pair of socks and another sweater as ice was forming over his coat.

He arrived at his apartment, spent and freezing to see his girls gasp in horror at his arrival.  
"Rose, go run hot water for a bath." Ariadne ordered as she helped him unzip his coat and unravel his scarf. His fingers too frozen to do the task. "You might had frost bite!"

The little girl was quick to do as her mother commanded and Arthur could head the welcoming sounds of hot water pumping into the large bathtub.

Ariadne shook out the ice on his jacket over the kitchen sink so as not to spoil the floors, as he got used to the feel of being in a warm apartment.

"Are you hungry?" she asked worriedly. Rose peering nervously at the both of them as she sat Arthur down in the living room chair and stripped off his work boots.

"Yes, but a bath sounds better just now." he told her as his teeth started to chatter.

"Go get in the water and warm up." she told him as she pulled off the layers of socks and he felt the sting of warm air hit his cold skin.

~ Once he was in the bath, Arthur's skin felt like it was burning. The water was steaming hot and his skin was too cold to stand it. His toes and fingers felt like insects were biting him over and over as he opened and closed his fists.

He relaxed in the warm water before spotting little doll dresses that were hanging on the towel rack to dry. Rosie, probably imitating her mother, had washed her babies clothes and hung them up.

Arthur couldn't help but laugh at the sight of tiny dresses. Of clean clothes, a hot bath, tidy apartment and dinner cooking.


	11. Chapter 11

11.

~ After a long soak, he dressed and ate the roasted chicken Ariadne had made them for dinner.  
"I thought I told you not to go out." he said to her.

He couldn't be too mad with the smell of roasted carrots and potatoes hitting his nose.  
"It was just across the street. The little market was open, and we needed something for tonight." she told him.  
"I need to pay you for the food you've been buying and the laundry you washed." he said as the chicken fell off the bone and he was forced to eat it with a knife and fork.  
"I'll let you buy the groceries, since I'm out of money." Ariadne said sady. "But the laundry was a thank you for helping us."

She was the last to be seated at the dinner table. Making sure everyone else got milk, bread, and hot food.  
"How was your day?" she asked as Arthur couldn't stop eating her cooking and wished he had more room for seconds.  
"Horrible." he snapped. "We had to shovel snow so they could get the ambulances through."

"I didn't get to play in the snow at all!" Rose whined. "Mamma made me stay here while she went to the store!"

"You're mamma is a good mamma who didn't want you to get frost bite like I almost did today. You mind your mamma, Rosie." Arthur told the child who gave him a miserable look.

"Sorry, I mean Rose." he said.

Ariadne was looking at him for a while. Her eyes larger than normal. Arthur assumed she was still annoyed he kept calling her daughter Rosie. It was a habit Arthur was having trouble breaking since every girl he ever knew names Rose, was called Rosie.

"You... you can call her Rosie if you want." she whispered.

~ "I hope you don't mind, I've been reading your encyclopedia books." Ariadne said as Arthur relaxed in the living room after dinner and Ariadne and Rose finished washing the dishes.

Arthur saw one of his mother's prized 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica books on the sofa by the floor lamp. Apparently Ariadne had been reading about Paris.  
"When I was about nine or so, an encyclopedia man would come to the apartment every month for a year and a half and my mother bought a book a month for $2.50." he said as he looked over the still well kept blue book covers.  
"Kind of pricey, even now." Ariadne said as she put the last of the dinner plates in the cupboard.

"Yeah, but she loved them. She had to have the collection. My brother and I always did our homework from them. Always got good grades to." Arthur informed her. "Even the neighbor kids would ask to borrow them. Mother wouldn't let them leave the house."

"No, not at that price." Ariadne agreed.  
"Yes, they had to stay in our apartment." Arthur laughed. "That sales man was good to. He got her to not only buy the encyclopedias, but also books on art and zoology. He came buy every month with: '_Mrs. Darling, I've got something I know you'll love_.' Then he would show her the fancy book with color pictures and she was in heaven. She saved like crazy for those books and she loved them more that anything." Arthur laughed.

He didn't mention how his father had yelled at his mother when he was drunk for buying the books. Or how he would threaten to throw them all out till his mother was forced to keep them locked away for safe keeping. After she died, Arthur was amazed to see the pristine books resurface along with national geographic magazines and newly purchased World Books that were safely tucked in her bookcase.

"I think it was a different world for women back then, you know?" Arthur said as Ariadne stayed quite. Rose returning to her dolls and not even listening.

"My mother didn't have a radio like we do. She never left New York if you want to know the truth. She knew nothing about the world, but I think she wanted to." he said as he glanced at his mother's wedding picture on the wall with his father. "She was only seventeen when she got married. I think she wanted more out of life than being a housewife to a cop."

"To tell you the truth." Ariadne sighed and he suddenly realized she had been listening. "I liked making my own money."

Arthur glanced up at her as she folded a dish towel over the sink. She gave him a little shrug.  
"Before the crash, I had to ask Bill for money for everything. I know some women are given an allowance for groceries and clothes and things. But with Bill, I had to clear almost every purchase with him first. If I couldn't convince him I needed it, I couldn't get it. He always made it clear it was _his_ money I was spending. Even if it was for his child." she said bitterly. "I liked it when we moved to Manhattan and I a job. I bought what I wanted for a change. I didn't have to clear it with Bill first. If I wanted to buy washing powder that week, I did. If I wanted to by fabric to make a doll dress for Rose, I did."

She glanced nervously at Arthur.  
"My dreams are very small. I know." She said meekly.  
"Not at all." Arthur told her. "I guess I never thought about it that way. My dad was lousy with money and he knew it. He gave his pay to my mother and she made sure all the bills were settled. She gave him enough to get a drink with the boys and he was happy."

"He must not have been happy when prohibition came about." Ariadne offered as she carefully put the encyclopedia marked **P** back on the bookcase.

"No, he wasn't." Arthur laughed. "It only meant he had to go to a speakeasy and drink bad moonshine that would have killed him in a few years anyway, if a robber hadn't beat him to it." Arthur said with a trace of resentment in his voice.

"Is that why you wanted to work the prohibition enforcement? Stop all the rum runners?" she asked.  
"My dad would come home drunk and yell at my mother, hit her. All the bad things men do when they can't control themselves. My brother and I had to see that, I made up my mind I would never be like that. Then, prohibition came along, and it's like it made things worse. Instead of safely selling properly brewed beer and liquor, these people like Eames sell bathtub gin and white lighting. I've seen them make men so sick the were paralyzed for life, went blind and some even died." Arthur told her.

"Yeah. I know about that." Ariadne said bitterly. "Bill, my husband, used to come home reeking of the shine and so sick I thought he would die. He would sweat all night long and I was afraid to take him to the hospital because they would know he had been to the speakeasy and I didn't want him thrown in jail."

"There's no happy solution in this, is there?" Arthur asked her with a little smile.  
She let out a long sigh.

"Did you mean what you said before?" she asked.

Arthur wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"What?" he asked as he smoothed out yesterday's paper. Most of it still unread.  
"When you said I was a good mother." she reminded him. Before he could answer, she spoke up again. "Because Bill said I wasn't. When he was leaving us, when he took our money and left, he said I wasn't a good mother. I sometimes feel like everyone thinks I'm a bad mother. I mean, I leave my girl with a horrible sitter who's dirty and smells like cat food. When I don't do that, I take her to work with me in the kitchen and hide her under a table."

She gave a bitter little laugh as they chanced a look at Rose.

The child was playing in her favorite place in the apartment. Under the table with her two dolls. Fleeting stanches of her lecturing to them drifted up and it was clear she wasn't listening to adults.  
"Ariadne, you took any job trying to support yourself and your girl. I've seen how you take care of her." Arthur whispered. "Rosie is very lucky to have you as a mother. You're a good mother. It's not easy when things are so hard right now."  
"Even tough I was working in Mr. Eames' kitchen?" she asked suspiciously.

Arthur felt like a trap had been set for him.  
"It's been a long day." he said instead. His angry face returning as he looked over yesterday's headlines. Only to be greeted with Eames' mocking face.

"Mamma, the babies want a story." Rose said as she left her hiding place under the table and crawled on Ariadne's lap.

"Rose, I think all we have to read is the encyclopedias." Ariadne said as her girl snuggled in her arms. The snow storm outside making them all very glad to be safely indoors.

"Hand me that red book there." Arthur said as he spied some the books his mother never threw out; despite the fact is was cracking peeling.

Ariadne did as he asked her. Retrieving a worn out edition of Peter Pan and Wendy.

"Really?" Ariadne said with a laugh.  
Arthur shrugged.  
"Out last name is Darling; what did you expect?" he asked as he flipped over the battered pages that had been a staple of his childhood.  
"Now, Rosie." he said clearing his throat as his girls settled in for story time. "All children, except one, grow up."


	12. Chapter 12

12.

~ The next morning, Arthur was off again to shovel snow with the rest of the boys. Another attempt to dig the city out as snow kept falling and clogging up normal business.

He had given Ariadne $10 to go to the market, now that the snow was not so heavy and the streets were clear. It was strange to her that he simply gave over the bills as if they were nothing and asked if it was enough.

Ariadne had to remind herself that he was a man used to paying $1.50 for lunch everyday, and brushed off the memories of telling her daughter she couldn't have $0.15 worth of oranges. Or that Arthur could casually spend her weeks pay from working the kitchens like it was normal.

~ Rose complained loudly that her feet hurt in her too small shoes and that the snow was coming in through the holes in them as they walked across the street. Ariadne wondered if it would be right to spend a dollar of the money Arthur had given her for food to buy Rose a pair of boots, but quickly shook off the idea.

Arthur was not her husband, nor was he Rose's father. They were not his responsibility and she owed him enough already for granting them house room the past few days.

Still, last night, when he read to them after that good dinner and everything was cozy and safe; it felt like they were a family.

Rose had fallen asleep on Ariadne's lap and Arthur, the child too big for her petite mother to carry, had gently put the girl to bed again.

Ariadne whispering a thank you to him before closing the door to the bedroom and leaving him to sleep on the sofa.

~ Ariadne was looking longingly at a pair of child size boots in the dry goods store window, when she thought she saw a familiar face in the reflection of the glass.

She felt a tremble of fear as she turned to see Mr. Eames grinning at her.  
"I thought that was you." he said as she pushed Rose behind her.  
"Mamma, it's the man with the oranges!" Rose told her.  
"Indeed it is little one." Eames chuckled. "How have you been, Ariadne? I can't tell you how sorry I am about being temporarily our of business."

For a moment, Ariadne had been worried that Eames would be angry with her for some reason.

"I know it must have put you in a tight spot money wise." he added. "Are you and your girl doing alright?"

"We're fine." Ariadne said as Rose peeked out at Eames. "We're living with a friend of mine right now. Just until it warms up and I can find another job."

"Jobs aren't exactly going around here anymore. Not for women anyway." Eames said.  
"That's true, but things will turn around." Ariadne told him.

"I'm sure they said the same thing during the dark ages." Eames said with a little smile.  
"This is hardly the same thing." Ariadne told him.  
"You know, I owe you money. The raid and all, I never got the chance to give you the seven dollars you had coming." he offered as his hand went to his pocket.

Ariadne felt her spirits pick up. Money! Money she thought she would never see. Shoes for Rose, maybe a jacket to. She could buy those things after all.

"Oh, I guess I forgot." Ariadne said humbly.  
"You forgot nothing." Eames said with a smile as he handed her a five and two dollars.

To Rose he bent down and gave her a nickel.  
"Rose, can you go in the store and pick me out a Hershey bar? They think it's strange for a grown man to buy one for himself." he asked.

Rose nodded happily and skipped into the store for him.

Ariadne watched her daughter as Eames bought them time to talk alone.  
"I'm so sorry for what happened. It must have been awful. Darling and his zeal for keeping the city dry." Eames said bitterly.

He looked at Ariadne who kept her face blank.  
"So, you're really alright?" he asked kindly.  
"I'm fine." she said.

"I was worried about you. With all this weather." He said nodding to the snow that was still falling. "I hated the idea of you two being in a shelter or God forbid, on the streets. You deserve better than that. You both deserve to be someplace nice."

"It's kind of you to think of us Mr. Eames and that you gave me my pay. I can use it." Ariadne said honestly.  
"I'll have my club back up in a week or two." Eames said. "They couldn't make the charges stick."  
"I read about that in the papers. You looked nice." Ariadne told him and felt a blush creep to her face.  
"I do take a nice picture, don't I?" Eames admitted. "Anyway, I was hoping that you might come back. If you want to work in the kitchens, you can, but my offer still stands if you want to see me exclusively."

Ariadne felt embarrassed as Eames looked at her with his kind, imploring face. He was offering her $40 a week, enough to live well if she was his mistress. $40 a week was enough to have a home for her and Rose. Enough for food and power and they wouldn't have to depend on Arthur to take care of them.  
"If you're worried about getting in a family way with me, don't be. I take precautions." He said as she looked at her shoes.

"You know," Ariadne said softly. "If you had just asked me out on a normal date, without talking about paying me, I would have said yes."

Eames looked a little offended.  
"I thought you wouldn't have wasted your time with a gent like me." he said "I'm not exactly an angel."

"I know that." she said as Rose came back with his candy bar.  
"Well, could I ask you on a date now? Maybe for dinner and a show? We could go to the movies, you me and Rose." he said.  
"I don't know." Ariadne said as she ran a hand through Rose's hair. The girl beaming up at him as she tried to hand him his candy bar.

"I hear '_All's quite on the Western Front'_ is good." he offered.

"Not exactly a picture for Rose to see." Ariadne smiled.  
"Maybe you can leave her with the friend you stay with." Eames said. "What's her name?"

"We live with the Peter Pan family!" Rose shouted happily.

Ariadne shushed her daughter as Rose tried to explain and looked saddened that she couldn't tell Eames about a man named Darling.  
The last thing Ariadne needed was for Eames to find out she lived with his mortal enemy.  
"I don't think it's a good idea, Eames. The people I live with right now wouldn't like it, and I need to find a steadier job." she told him sadly.  
"I understand." he whispered as Rose tried to give him his candy bar.  
"Rose, I just remembered I don't like chocolate." he said as Ariadne fought off a smile.  
"You don't?" she asked.  
"No, I hate it in fact. Can you eat it for me? I don't want it to go to waste." he said looking down at her with his charming smile.  
"Okay." Rose said happily.  
"Say thank you, Rose." Ariadne told her daughter.

"Thank you, Mr. Eames." Rose said happily.

~ Arthur was called into the chief office after only an hour of shoveling snow and asked to sit.

He assumed he was in some kind of trouble again for the disaster of Eames' speakeasy and the destruction of evidence.

Chief Ronald Mayer was a short, pudgy man who spoke with a thick Irish accent and who came to America 40 years ago with his family. He never fully assimilated into the country and was like many police men Arthur had grown up with. Strict in discipline, blunt with his words, but very fair in his actions.

Mayer had put himself through high school, not an easy task at the time. He had joined the force, along with his brothers, when he was sixteen and worked his way up. He took night classes and earned a degree. He was the living embodiment of the American dream.

Yet, the sour disposition of his face showed little satisfaction in his life. Arthur had always liked him.

"I suppose I've had you on the shit list long enough." Mayer said as Arthur nervously closed the door to his office. "Sit down, son. I need to talk to you."

Arthur knew this was coming. An investigation, followed by a suspension for the raid on Mr. Eames' place.

He took a seat across from Mayer's desk and the chief eyed him viciously.

"I've known you for how long, son?" Mayer asked at last.  
"Over ten years, sir." Arthur said. "Since I graduated from the Academy and asked to come to work in prohibition task force."

"I took you to. I took a rookie who was too eager to do this job and I've watched you become a fine policeman. Which is why I stood behind you, supported you, when you took the detectives exam." Mayer said bitterly.

Arthur wasn't sure what was going on at the moment. Was he in trouble or not?  
"I had hoped, by now, you would have done more with that promotion. It's been three years." Mayer said. "I was expecting you to go to school. Try your hand a law school being as how your a bachelor with no commitments. It would have been the time to do these things. You're almost 30 now."

"Umm..." Arthur floundered. "I never thought about being a lawyer, sir."

"I have a law degree." Mayer spat. His head nodding to the finely framed paper that took pride of place on his wall. "Took me years of night school and my Mrs. had to work in a glove factory to help me get it, but I did it. You have no reason not to continue your schooling, son."

"I guess I never thought about it." Arthur admitted.  
"Well, think about it." Mayer said. "Look, I know why you wanted this unit. Fighting to keep the city dry. I know what kind of man your dad was. He was a good cop; but a lousy drunk."

Mayer was suddenly kind an Arthur looked at his kitted hat in his hands.

"I've seen this a thousand times in a thousand cops. Only you never lost your focus. I've always admired that about you, kid. You were so eager to please when you first got here. You've had to take a lot of bitter pills, and deal with a lot of bad things. Still, you fight the good fight."

"You want me to go to college, sir?" Arthur asked.  
"I want_ you_ to want it." Mayer growled. "You own the apartment you live in. You've no wife or family to take care of. The city of New York will pay for you tuition and you can keep working here."

"Why would the city pay for all this for me?" Arthur asked.  
Mayer looked annoyed.  
"I keep pissing blood, son." he said at last.

Arthur looked embarrassed.

"My doctor said I have a year, maybe more before the big C takes me. I've informed my superiors I want you to take my place." Mayer said.

Arthur didn't know what to say. He just stared at Mayer open mouthed.

The chief didn't seem concerned with his own mortality. He had other matters that were more pressing.  
"Now, they wanted Cobb for the job. I'll admit, he's older, more experienced, and is a natural leader. But he doesn't come from the life the way we do. He never knew what it means to have family on the job, and to be perfectly honest, he seems disenchanted with the work." Mayer told him.

"You want me for chief?" Arthur said stupidly.  
He had come in expecting a suspension or worse, a hearing and inquest.  
"Exactly, son." Mayer said. "But you need more schooling. A year of law school will make all the difference in the eyes of the board. Like I told you, they want to groom Cobb for this post. He would take it in a heart beat if you don't want it."

"No, I want it. I'll go to school, I'll do it." Arthur said feeling an elation going through his body at the idea of a promotion.  
"Good." Mayer said and handed him an accordion folder. "I've taken the liberty of signing you up for a few night classes at NYU. You start after the New Year, like I said, the city is paying, so don't flunk out."

"Yes, sir." Arthur said breathlessly.

"I expect a degree on the wall with your name on it before I kick off, Darling." the chief grumbled.  
"Yes, sir." Arthur said feeling so happy he could burst.  
"You should do fine. You'll have an easier time then most with now wife and kids holding you back." Mayer added.  
"Yes, sir."

"Just one more thing."

"Sir?"

"You have no wife and kids. That's a problem. The board brought that up when I said I wanted you for the job. They think a cop with no family, even if his family once bled blue, isn't a cop to be trusted. They think you might be unstable and we can't have that." Mayer said.  
"I thought you said a family will hold me back." Arthur said.  
"They can, but I want you to give thought to getting married, son. It looks better for the men to trust their lives to a family man. No one trusts a man who isn't accountable for his own family. Would you have trusted me if I didn't have Maggie and seven kids?" he asked.

"I see what you mean, sir." Arthur said.  
"Also, a wife will take care of you and keep your home life separate from your work life. That's important. Cobb thinks you take too much of your work home with you and you spend too many hours here at the station. I must say I agree." Mayer said.

"You want me to get married." Arthur nodded.

"I want you to be stable, son." Mayer clarified.

Arthur nodded and fought the urge to fidget and bite his nails.  
"Back to business, we think Eames will be reopening his speakeasy soon enough if he hasn't already." the chief said.  
"Another raid? No destruction of booze this time?" Arthur asked hopefully.  
"No, I want you to find out more about this prostitution ring he's running. We talked to one of his girls and she says this isn't the only house he runs." Mayer said.  
"It's going to be hard to prove, sir." Arthur said sadly.

"Well then, you better find a way to prove it, _chief_." Mayer said with a grin.


	13. Chapter 13

13.

~ "Mamma, I'm a princess!" Rose told her mother as she twirled around the living room in her new winter coat.  
Ariadne watched her daughter dance around the apartment in the lovely powder blue coat she had bought new at the dry goods shop. It was a few sizes too big, but Rose would grow into it quick enough.

Her daughter was in love with the coat Ariadne paid a whopping $4.75 for. She even bought Rose a good pair of boots for $1.50.

It was so wonderful to buy new things for Rose for once.

She was even happier that she was able to buy them herself and not resort to skimming the grocery money Arthur had given her.

She had naturally bought food, washing powder and soap for them to use, but she felt good about having her own money. Even if it was from Eames.

She knew she would have to explain to Arthur about where the money had come from. He would notice the new shoes and coat. Cops didn't miss things like that.

For now, she was happy watching her girl dance around the apartment. Her dark hair bouncing as Rose giggled and asked when she could eat her chocolate bar.

~ Arthur was home early as he spent the rest of the day at New York University with the advisers there.  
It was all true what Mayer was saying. Arthur half expected it to be an elaborate joke they were playing on him. But the university had already accepted him and the city paid his year's tuition in full. Arthur would attend classes, both day and night for the next year at least.

He felt happy Mayer had such faith in him, but wondered if he could do the schooling. It had been a long time since he was in high school.

He arrived home to see his girls giggling and dancing to jazz music on the radio, Rosie looking happy in a pretty coat Arthur hadn't seen before.

Ariadne looked worried as she stopped the music and asked how his day was.

"Good." he said.

"Rose, why don't you play with your babies in the bedroom?" Ariadne asked.

Rose nodded and took both her dolls with her and closed the door.  
"I have something I need to tell you." Ariadne said when they were alone.

Arthur put his folder on his father's liquor cabinet, shook off his coat and waited for her to tell him. After today, nothing would surprise him.

"I ran into Mr. Eames today." she said hurriedly. "I was at the store, with Rose, and he found me."

Arthur was stunned.

"He found you?" he repeated. "Did he hurt you?"

"No." Ariadne said a little too quickly.  
"Did he hurt you?" Arthur demanded more forcefully.  
"No, he was very nice actually."

"Men like Eames are not nice." Arthur said darkly.

"He gave me my back pay he owed me. I used it to buy Rose the coat and shoes she was needing." Ariadne told him. "I didn't want you to wonder where the money from, or think I was stealing from you."

"Did you tell Eames you were staying with me?" Arthur asked.  
"No."

"Does he know where you live now?" Arthur asked.  
"No, I... I don't think so." she whispered.  
"You don't think so." Arthur sighed.  
"I don't think he would hurt me." she told him. Her hands wringing nervously the way his mother's would when his father had been drinking and she was scared.

"Ariadne, Eames broke the jaw of one of his customers because he was too rough with his girls. Women he hired to sell themselves." Arthur said bitterly. "That's what kind of a man he is."  
"I know what he is." Ariadne said bluntly.  
"Good, so you know he's not a nice man." Arthur spat back.  
"He owed me $7 for my work. He found me and gave it to me." Ariadne said not looking at Arthur. "I wanted to tell you so you would know where Rose's shoes and coat came from."

"I don't give a damn where they come from, if you needed shoes for your girl, I'll buy them. Stay away from Eames. Do you want me to show you the hospital pictures of the man he almost killed?" Arthur asked.

Ariadne looked ready to cry.  
"Are you going to kick us out?" she asked.  
Arthur blinked.  
"Why would you think that?" he asked.  
"Because I talked to the man you arrested." she whispered. Tears falling out of her eyes.

"Please, don't cry." Arthur said worriedly. He hated it when women cried.  
"I'm not crying." Ariadne said as she covered her mouth with her hand and held back a sob.  
"Please, don't cry." Arthur said as he reached out a tentative hand to comfort her. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just with Eames getting off and then you telling me he found you. It was a shock."

"I just didn't want to lie to you." she sobbed as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her sweater sleeve.

"I know. Look, I'm sorry." he said as she burst into tears.  
"It just felt good to buy Rose the things she needed with my own money. You have no idea how happy that made me!" she cried.  
Arthur didn't know what to do or what to say as he tried to get her to stop crying. This whole thing reminded him too much of when his father was mad at his mother and she sobbed so helpless and alone.

"Ariadne," he said wanting to change the subject. "listen, I want to tell you something. It's good news and I wanted you to be the first to know."

She looked up at him with red, swollen eyes.

He felt like she might stop crying now, and ran with it.  
"The chief called me into his office today and said he wants me for his job when he... um... leaves it next year." Arthur told her.

She sniffed and looked at him.

He took hold of the folder and sat down in his father's chair as she settled in his mother's arm chair next to him.

"See, the city is going to pay for me to go to college and get a law degree. The chief says I'll need it for the promotion and I can go to school at nights, and keep working." he told her as he showed her his class schedule.

She looked at the NYU booklet and sniffed back a sob.  
"That's... really good news." she told him.

"Yes, it's good. The board wanted another guy, but the chief thought enough of me to convince them to promote me." he told her.  
"I'm happy for you." she whispered.  
"Ariadne, I'm sorry I snapped at you. Just, it scared me to think of Eames finding you the way he did." he explained.

"I know, it scared me to a little to." she said as she whipped her face with her sleeve again.

She looked over his classes.

"This is good news, Arthur." she admitted as she bit her lip.  
"It's been a while since I was in school." he said sadly. "I did well in high school, but high school isn't college, is it?"

She smiled briefly.  
"I was hoping to go to college when I was in high school." she told him. "But Bill wanted to get married, and I didn't want to be without him. Stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid. I didn't go to college because I wanted to be a cop." he laughed. "At least you got Rosie out of your deal."

She finally gave him a real smile.  
"I'm worried, though." he admitted. "I can't fail at this. If I go back to school, I have to pass everything or I won't get the promotion."

"You'll do fine." she told him.  
"I was kind of hoping you would do me a favor." he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, at the start of the new year, I'll be in classes or at work almost all day and night." he told her. "I need someone to... well I guess take care of me, like you've been doing. You know, my laundry and the cooking."

"Like a maid?" she asked.  
"I guess." he said hopefully. "I couldn't really pay you much. But I could give you a place to live. Sort of like we've been living now." he offered.  
"Arthur, this apartment is too small for the three of us." she laughed. "I mean, you're sleeping on the couch as it is."

"Fair enough, I can rent out this apartment, and we can find a bigger place." he offered.

Ariadne looked skeptical.  
"I'm not asking you to marry me." he said with a forced laugh.

Mayer's words about how he needed a family still stinging in his ears too much.  
"I'm just asking you to... look after me while I'm in school. It will give you a place to live and you can get back on your feet." he explained.

"Arthur, we hardly know each other." she said feebly.  
He felt hurt as she was clearly looking for reasons to not stay with him.

"Do you... do you want to go work in Eames' kitchens?" he asked.

"No." she said quickly. "But I'm not going to jump into a living arrangement with a strange man just because I've nowhere to go."

Arthur nodded.  
"I understand that." he said. "We have till the new year to think about it."

She nodded and stood.  
"Dinner's almost ready." she whispered as she went to the kitchen.


	14. Chapter 14

14.

~ Ariadne tried not to think too much about Arthur's offer, but her mind raced with her other options.

'_I could move out and back to our old place. I still have two weeks left on the rent. I don't have a job, so there is no money for next month's rent._' she thought.

'_I can't live here while Arthur was in school. It's not like he has real work for me to do like take care of an elderly family member._' she thought as she put Rose to bed.

'_What if I've insulted him and he wants us to leave?_' she thought worriedly as she changed into her night gown and climbed into bed next to Rose.

It took a long time for her to go to sleep that night.

~ Arthur was awake early the next morning before Ariadne. She could hear the telephone in the living room obnoxiously ringing and it pulled her awake.

'_How can anyone stand to have one of those things in their homes?_' she wondered as she heard Arthur's muffled talking in the living room and sounds of him moving around the apartment.

She looked out the window, saw it was still dark, and went back to sleep.

~ A few hours later, she woke up and lazily wondered what time it was.

She wasn't used to sleeping in. Her girl, Rose, always woke her up with her infernal morning cheerfulness.

Ariadne rolled over and expected to see Rose's bright happy face, and was instead, greeted with her child breathing heavily and her flesh too warm.

"Rose?" Ariadne whispered as she felt her child's cheeks that were bright pink.

Rose coughed a little and fell back to sleep. Her hair sticking to her skin as she was sweating a little from the obvious fever.

Ariadne jumped out of bed and went to the kitchen for water and a cool rag for her face.

It wasn't a wonder Rose had caught a cold. With all the running around outside in the snow with shoes that were broken and letting the chill into her feet.

Ariadne made Rose drink a little water and her girl, her look-a-like girl, coughed and threw up.

~ Rose was never sick. Ariadne was always grateful that her child was born healthy and stayed that way. She never knew the fear for her child's life that was creeping into her bones just now.

There was a red rash on Rose's little body as Ariadne let her soak in a tub of cool water.

"Baby, show me your tongue." Ariadne ordered as her girl was breathing hard.

Rose stuck out a little tongue that looked like she had been eating strawberries.

Her mother felt her heart stop beating at the sight.  
"Good girl, you're going to be fine." she told her daughter as she tried to stay brave.

~ Arthur woke to his phone ringing early that morning. It had been his mother's idea to have a telephone installed. His father wouldn't have allowed the contraption in the house because of the noise, and Arthur had to agree.

"Hello." he said gruffly into the mouth piece as he was ready to yell at who ever was on the other end.

He looked at the mantle clock and saw it was only five in the morning.  
"Darling." Cobb said on the other end. "We need you to come down by the Eames' old place."

"I don't want to hear about Eames." Arthur grumbled.  
"You need to come down, we've got a body." Cobb said.

~ "Shouldn't homicide be looking into this?" Arthur asked after he had dressed and met Cobb. The snow fall had taken a break for now and Arthur was glad he could use his car to come to the still boarded up restaurant.

"Normally, yes." Cobb said. "But Eames asked for us by name."

"It isn't Eames that's the body? That's too bad." Arthur laughed.  
~ The nefarious speakeasy owner was sitting at his still empty bar when the two detectives came in. Arthur saw there were other cops on the floor, wrapping up a body and taking pictures.

He waved a hand to the homicide detectives, Rush and Mayhew before focusing on his nemesis.

"Hey, Eames. How's business?" he said mockingly.  
"Hysterical, Darling." Eames said with a snarl. "I came into my establishment today and found my body guards dead, along with my door man Lenny. They were beaten to a pulp before being shot in the back of the head."

"Lovers quarrel?" Cobb asked.

A few of the cops laughed.  
"Like I said, hysterical." Eames said with a manic look in his eyes that told Arthur not to joke about it.

"Do you know what happened? Who did this?" Arthur asked instead.

"I have an idea. I can't prove anything." Eames said looking like he was about to be sick. "But I think it was a message from the Emperor."

Arthur sucked in his breath. The Emperor was a rumor, a phantom in the world of underground bars and rum runners. He was the man who was puppet master to all the other bars and clubs. No one knew who he was exactly, but evidence of his legacy was in body dumps all over the city. Bad men would just disappear sometimes when they talked to cops or the press.

"What does your lawyer, Mr. Fischer, say about this?" Arthur asked as the coroner finished wrapping up two bloodied bodies for the meat cart.

"Yeah, thee dead guys in your bar, Mr. Eames. I suggest you bring your pretty lady friend Fischer in." Cobb said.

"I didn't do this. I have an alibi." Eames said.

"Lady friend?" Arthur asked.  
"Yes." Eames said.

Arthur sucked in his breath and nodded. His thoughts going to Ariadne and how he was glad she spent the night at his home.  
"Why is the Emperor doing this to you?" Arthur asked.  
"Because, Darling, when you and your merry band of booze bashers destroyed all my goods, I couldn't supply other bars in the city." Eames growled.  
"So sorry." Arthur said sarcastically. "Cobb, I feel so bad about hurting your very fine criminal organization."

"Really." Cobb said. "I might cry myself to sleep."

"What do you want us to do about it?" Arthur asked.  
"I can give you information about him. About the Emperor." Eames offered.  
"Sure you can." Arthur laughed.  
"No, I'm serious." Eames told them.  
"No one in your situation would rat out another scumbag." Cobb said darkly. "It's a good way to earn yourself a pair of cement shoes."

"I know that." Eames said. "But I have it on good authority that this prohibition nightmare will be coming to an end if Roosevelt decides to run for office. I can open up a bar and not have to worry about you two lovely ladies visiting me."

"That's still more that two years away." Arthur laughed.  
"Look, the Emperor doesn't want to kill me. I'm too valuable and I know too much. He's coming after the people I care about. He's had me followed and he knows the people I come in contact with. My doorman, my bouncers..." he rolled his eyes over at Arthur and glared at him. "He even knows the girls from the kitchen staff."

Arthur felt ready to punch Eames at that moment, but kept his face a deep scowl instead.

"Cobb, why don't you go talk to the boys in homicide, trade war stories." Arthur said.

Cobb nodded and walked away.

Arthur and Eames said nothing as the other policemen were laughing and joking.

"They don't care you know." Arthur said at last. "About you or your friends getting killed. You're scum and we're not going to waste our time settling your rivalry."  
"I understand that. But I called you to warn you about Ariadne." Eames said.  
Arthur glared at him and Eames gave a little shrug.  
"Think I didn't know, Darling? I know she's staying with you. That you were her knight in a cheap suit." he said with a cocky smile.

"Rose and her Peter Pan comment. Doesn't take a genius to figure that you took them home with you after he raid."  
"This guy won't come after Ariadne." Arthur grumbled.  
"I hope not. I like her a lot. She should have taken me up on my offer, I can protect her better than you can." Eames said.  
"You can't even protect your protectors." Arthur laughed. "What offer are you talking about?"

"She didn't tell you?" Eames asked.  
Arthur didn't answer.  
"Just as well. I'll let her explain it." Eames said as the other cops wheeled dead bodies out of the bar.

~ Eames gave Arthur the name of the girl he was with last night to prove he didn't kill his own men. Arthur and Cobb found her in a run down tenement apartment building in Brooklyn.

Arthur felt slightly sick as the sweet looking girl, who couldn't be more than 17 years old, answered the door.

"Are you Fanny?" Cobb asked as Arthur took in her petite body, dark hair and large brown eyes.

"I am. What do you want?" she asked.  
"You're not in trouble." Cobb said. "We need to confirm that you were with a man who calls himself Eames last night."

Fanny looked scared.  
"I haven't done anything wrong." she said worriedly.  
"We're not saying you did." Arthur assured her. "May we come in?"

~ Arthur was no stranger to seeing how the truly poor lived. Yet Fanny's home was an eye opener.  
"How old are you, Fanny?" Cobb asked as the two men saw a baby and a few younger children running around the spartan flat that looked like it hadn't been cleaned properly in weeks.  
"I'm 19." she said. Arthur and Cobb both knew she was lying.  
"You we're with Mr. Eames all night last night?" Arthur asked.

Fanny looked into the bedroom across the hall. At a sleeping form in a dirty bed. A man was snoring loudly and Arthur could smell cheap moonshine coming from the bedroom.

She was quick to close the door and come back to them.  
"Look, my ma is real sick with the TB. She's in the hospital, and my Pa ain't good for nothing except drinking all the money. I've got four little sisters and brothers to take care of and feed. Not to mention my older sister's baby she left on our door. I lost my job last month and I do what I have to." she explained.

Arthur couldn't help but be reminded of Ariadne looking at Fanny just now. Her eyes, hair and body were just the same. Except for the thick Brooklyn accent, she could have been Ariadne's sister.  
"So, when Eames started talking to me a month ago, offering me $30 if I would spend the night with him, I said yes. It was easy money, he was really nice to me." Fanny said close to tears.

"We're not hear to arrest you for that, Fanny." Cobb said. "You say Eames was with you every night this past month?"

"Not every night. He got arrested a few days ago. Right before the big storm. But he gave me cash and told me to make sure the kids were alright. He's a real good guy." she pleaded as the baby started to cry.  
"Was he with you last night?" Arthur demanded. "All night?"

He was sick of women saying Eames was good to them.  
"Yes, he told me to bring the baby to his apartment and we stayed the night." Fanny said. "He told me to leave around 4 this morning because he got some phone call."

"Why did he want the baby with you?" Cobb asked.

"He always does." Fanny said with a shrug. "I don't know why."

"What did ask you to do?" Cobb asked.

"Normal things. He wanted me to cook him a nice meal. He played with little Joey here and..." she grew quite.  
"You had relations with him?" Cobb finished.

"Yes, after we put the baby to bed. He never hurts me or anything like that. It's a lot like being married, I guess, and he says I won't have a baby by him. He gives me money and tells me to come back the next night. He's really nice to me. I guess he's just missing his wife, Ariadne." she said as baby Joey started to cry again.

"What?" Arthur asked harshly.  
"Well, that's what he always calls me." Fanny admitted as she shushed the baby. "When we're doing it. You know, having it off?"

Arthur nodded. Of course he knew what she meant.

"He always calls me Ariadne when he... well... _explodes_." she told them feeling embarrassed. "I guess his wife's name was Ariadne and maybe she died or ran off. I always thought he missed her. He's a nice guy, really. I don't want him to be in any trouble."


	15. Chapter 15

15.

~ Arthur felt unreasonably angry at Ariadne just now. He wondered if she had told him the truth about Mr. Eames. If _talking_ was all they did.

In a way, he was glad she hadn't accepted his offer to have her and Rose live with him. He didn't want a woman like Fanny. A girl so desperate, she would sell herself to a man like Eames.

It was almost two in the afternoon when Arthur reached his apartment and trudged upstairs. He wanted to go to sleep and not think about Eames, Ariadne, Fanny or anything else for a while.

A part of him had already become spoiled to coming home to a clean apartment that smelled of cooking and cheery music on the radio. So when he arrived home to hear coughing and retching from the bathroom, he knew something was wrong.

"Ariadne?" Arthur called to the closed bathroom door.

The apartment smelled like sickness and was too stuffy.

"Come in!" Ariadne shouted.

Arthur peeked into the bathroom to see Rose's thin little body was laying on the floor in a night dress she had sweated through. The bathroom smelled like vomit as Ariadne was wiping down the girl's red face.

"What happened?" Arthur demanded as he grabbed a dry towel from the linen closet and helped the girl's mother pat dry Rose's hot flesh.

"I don't know!" Ariadne sobbed. Her hair was hanging lose and it was clear she had been crying all day. "She woke up with a fever and was coughing. I put her in the tub with some cool water to try and break it. Then I saw the rash!"

Arthur saw Rose's skin then. What he thought was just redness from her fever, was more like tiny red spots clustered close together.  
"Go to the bedroom, get the blankets, we have to take her to the hospital." he ordered. Amazed he was so calm and collected.

Ariadne sniffed back a sob and did as he told her. Her frantic rushing caused her to bump into the table on her way out of the kitchen.

Arthur could feel heat seem to radiate off the little girl as he picked her up and put his ear to her chest. Her heart beat was too quick and he knew instantly what was wrong with her.  
"Here." Ariadne sobbed as together, they swaddled the girl like a newborn baby.  
"It'll be alright, Rosie." Arthur said soothingly as Rose let out a moan at being picked up.  
"It's scarlet fever, isn't it?" Ariadne cried as she threw on her coat and followed Arthur out the door.  
"I'm not a doctor." Arthur said.

"Isn't it?" Ariadne shouted.

Arthur put Rose in the back seat of his car, and Ariadne was quick to climb in with her child. Arthur knew scarlet fever when he saw it. He had three cousins die from it in 1915. The disease had raged through the neighborhoods and his mother had kept her boys out of school almost three months till it died back down.  
"I think it's scarlet fever." he admitted as he drove them to the hospital.

~ Arthur hated hospitals. He hated the antiseptic smells that were almost as bad as the smells of sickness.

He had carried Rose into the emergency room and a nurse was quick to quarantine the three of them.

In their little room, Ariadne tried to make Rose drink water and tried to cool her body down with wet paper towels.

Arthur felt they should have been seen quicker as the nurses eyed their party worriedly.

Scarlet fever wasn't as common anymore, but it was still contagious and still had a dark history of children dieing.

"It's going to be alright." Ariadne whispered to Rose as the child moaned from discomfort.

Arthur heard her voice was shaking as she smoothed out Rose's dark hair. He tried not to fidget as, finally, a doctor burst into the room, looked at Rose for two seconds and had a nurse bring him a metal tray with scary looking instruments on it.

"We've just gotten this last year." the doctor grumbled as he loaded up a menacing looking metal syringe. "Antibiotics. We've already treated about 10 cases of scarlet fever in the past few weeks and the little ones all recovered."

"She's going to be okay?" Ariadne asked in disbelief.  
"I think so. You brought her in early, which is a good sign. You wouldn't believe how long these parents wait before bringing the kids in. Trying to cure them with old world voodoo." he laughed as he clean a spot on Rose's hip with rubbing alcohol and stuck her with the big, metal needle.

"Now, you can take her home. Make sure she drinks lots of water. She may have some diarrhea." he said with a laugh. "But that's normal."

"She's really going to be okay?" Ariadne asked again.  
"Oh, yes." the doctor said. "Just make sure she gets lots of rest and good food when she's ready."

"Thank you, doctor." Ariadne cried as Arthur shook his hand.

~ Ariadne was sure her Rose, her look-a-like girl, was breathing her last breath as Arthur drove them to the hospital. She couldn't bare it if she lost her baby. She would never be able to recover from having to bury her Rose.

She still couldn't believe her girl was going to get better. Scarlet fever was almost always fatal in children.

She was cradling her girl in the waiting room as Arthur paid the hospital bill. Rose was still warm, but her breathing was already better and she wrapped her thin little arms around her mother.

"You have such a nice looking family." she heard the clerk said to Arthur as he paid her.

"Thank you." he said awkwardly.

"You go home and take care of your little girl." the clerk added as he came to Ariadne, carefully scooped Rose up, and took them home.

~ "I was so scared." Ariadne whispered to him after they put Rose to bed on the couch.

The apartment was quite as Rose slept. No music, no reading or talking. Ariadne fixed them a cold dinner and neither one of them had the heart to eat it.

"I know." Arthur said as he tried to have an appetite.

Ariadne peeked at Rose asleep in the living room. Her face was still flushed from her fever, and they had agreed to keep her sleeping on the sofa for the night.

"She could have died." Ariadne whispered.  
"She won't." Arthur said.  
"Thanks to you." Ariadne told him. "I don't know how, but I'll pay you back for her doctor."

Arthur thought of Fanny and shook his head.  
"I don't want your money." he said.

Ariadne was crying softly as she nodded her head.  
"I just feel so helpless." she sobbed softly. "My girl could have died today if it wasn't for you. What kind of a mother can't keep her child healthy?"

"Ariadne, my aunt lost all three of her children to the fever and she was a wonderful mother. It happens. Rose will be fine." Arthur told her as he took her hand.  
Ariadne let out a sob again and Arthur realized she was about to start crying.  
"She's going to be fine." Arthur said again as he found his arms going around her and he was pulling her closer to him.

Like some sort of dance, she was soon seated on his lap. Her face buried in his shoulder as he let her cry herself out.


	16. Chapter 16

16.

~ "We didn't really think this through." Ariadne whispered after supper.

Rose was sleeping on the sofa as her mother felt her head for fever. The child was still warm, but she was no longer coughing and breathing hard.  
"Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor in the middle of winter." Arthur said as he put fresh sheets on the bed that had previously been used by Ariadne and her daughter.  
"We could always put Rose back in the bed, I could stay with her." Ariadne said to him.

"And have you come down with the fever to?" Arthur said. "One medical trauma is enough this week." he said as Ariadne was helping him to make the bed in the little bedroom.

"It's just... I've never shared a bed with another man other than my husband." she explained.

"Look, I'm exhausted, can we talk about the sleeping arrangements in the morning?" Arthur sighed as he unceremoniously stripped off his shirt, pants and crawled into the bed with his under shirt and boxers on.

Ariadne stood flabbergasted as he rolled away from her and shut off his bed side light.

He wasn't looking at her, so she slowly unbuttoned her brown work dress and slipped it off her head. Her dress slip had always acted as her night dress as well. She undid her bra under the slip and, on silent feet, carefully crawled into bed with him.

It felt odd to be in bed with another man.

She pulled the covers up to her chin and could feel Arthur's body heat warming up the covers.

He shifted slightly and made the bed bounce.

Ariadne let out a nervous sigh.  
"Arthur?" she whispered in the dark.  
"Yes?"

"Why aren't you married?" she asked.  
"It's hard to date a girl when you're on the job." he explained.

"Lots of cops have wives." she whispered.

"I know." he said.

"Didn't you have a sweetheart?" she asked. "Someone you wanted to marry?"

"I did. But she didn't want to be the wife of a cop. It takes a lot of sacrifice and worry. My mother went though it with my father, it's not an easy life." he explained.

The bed bounced as he rolled over on his back and they looked at each other briefly.  
"Do you think your husband will come back for you?" he whispered. "I mean you have a child together."

"I hope he never does." Ariadne said bitterly. "It would cost $5 to got to the court house and petition for divorce on grounds of abandonment. Bill isn't worth it."

"It's hard to stay together during hard times." Arthur said.

"I suppose so. But he left his child to starve to death." Ariadne said. "I can't forgive him for that."

"I don't think I could either." Arthur whispered back.

Ariadne bit her lower lip and tried not to think too hard on Arthur's bare arms he had shown just before crawling into bed.

Tried not to think about him carrying Rose into the hospital and how he didn't correct the clerk when she had said he had a nice family.

It was dangerous to think about those things with regard to Arthur. It was too easy to let herself believe he could, or wanted, to step into the role of husband and father. She couldn't allow that to happen.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you, Rose being sick and all." Arthur said to the darkness. "I talked to a missionary organizer who runs a woman's shelter. She said she could find you work and a room for you and Rose at a woman's hotel. You'll have to go on the relief, but you'll have a room that's warm and hot meals."

Ariadne blinked and said nothing.  
"We can talk about it more when Rosie is feeling better." he said before rolling over and going to sleep.

~ Rose was feeling better the next day, although she was still warm and uncomfortable. She sat up and drank the beef broth Ariadne brought to her.

Arthur called into the station to tell them he needed a personal day. When Cobb asked what happened, Arthur explained about Rose and the fever.

"I don't want to bring it into the the station." Arthur explained. He was grateful for the excuse to miss work and be home today. He felt like a kid playing hooky from school as he went to the dry goods store and bought the little girl a black tin of new crayons and butcher block paper.

"Arthur, that's too much." Ariadne scolded as he placed a board on Rose's lap and she was allowed to color on a bright roll of paper from her spot on the couch.

"She has to have something to do while she's sick." Arthur laughed as Rose, wearily took to the task of coloring before falling asleep again.

~ Ariadne wasn't as idle in the apartment as he thought she would be. Her day was filled with washing clothing out of the tin tub with the wash board. She did laundry every day so it wouldn't pile up. Then cleaning, and other little chores around the house. It was past noon before she finally sat down to read and periodically check on Rose who slept easily.  
"She's not red anymore." Ariadne said happily. "But she's still too warm."

Arthur smiled as he watched her pick up one of the encyclopedias and start to read. She looked a little better now that Rose wasn't in danger.

"I think we do need to move to a bigger place." Ariadne admitted. "Maybe get my bed from the old apartment."

"Really?" Arthur questioned. "I thought you wanted to be on your own. You don't need anyone's help taking care of your girl."  
"After what happened, yesterday, I know I can't provide for her alone." she admitted.

"You can, it's just, you shouldn't have to." he whispered.  
"I don't want to go to some shelter." she said as Rose rolled over in her sleep. "She most likely caught the fever from that horrible woman who looked after her. Who knows what she'll get if we move to a shelter."

"She's very weak." Arthur agreed. "I can talk to the landlord here about moving to a bigger place upstairs. There are apartments empty in the building. It won't be much of a move." Arthur said.

"You'll just let this place go?" she asked.  
"No, I own it. I can sublet it to one of the guys on the job." he explained.

She nodded.  
"One more thing." she said and took a deep breath.  
"What?"

"I'm not going to sleep with you as repayment for helping me. If I was that kind of girl, I would have been on the floor of Eames' place. I'll pay my way, and Rose's, by cooking and cleaning and washing. Like we agreed." she told him.

Arthur pretended to think about her demand.  
"Alright." he said at last.

They said nothing for a while. Finally, Ariadne announced she need to get dinner started.  
"Ariadne?" Arthur said and she turned to him.

"I know you're not that kind of a girl." he said before going back to his paper.

**I wanted to update before the world ends tomorrow. If it does, nice knowing everyone. LOL.**

** If you're wondering why it takes so long for your reviews to come in or why I don't PM you back, it's because you don't have an account on . You're under guest and it's hard to answer things if you're a guest and I have to approve all feedback. **

** I was asked how old I am, I'm happy to be turning 35 on January 16th. I've been happily married over 11 years now and we have two dogs named Sophie and Sasha. I live in Texas USA close to the town I grew up in. Close to where JGL and all those hot boys filmed "Stop Loss" in fact. **

** Some of you may be wondering why, at my age, my spelling and grammar sucks so much. I'll admit it. **

** First of all, it's been years since I was in school and if you don't use it, you lose it. **

** Secondly, I'm dyslexic. Not fun for me since when I was in school, some people thought dyslexia was akin to being mentally retarded, and treated as such. **

** I was segregated in all my classes and at one point I was removed from public school until High School and home schooled by my grandmother. **

** By then, things were better and schools had changed. However, when I was a senior, one woman came to school because she wanted to ensure her granddaughter would not be receiving the same diploma as me. She insisted someone who was retarded shouldn't have the same diploma as a normal person. **

** You can not imagine how painful that was to find out. **

** Long story short, I graduated on time and even won a small scholarship to our local Jr. College from a short story I wrote. **

** I always wanted to be a writer. Ever since I was about 9 years old and my grandmother started to read to me the little house books and Anne of Green Gables. **

** I was told, repeatedly, it would never happen because of my learning disability. But here, I can be a writer. So I guess there is a way around everything. **

** I try very hard with my grammar and spelling, I think I've gotten better. I have to do this without an editor, and I try to update everyday. **

** I deeply appreciate all of you for leaving feedback and are willing to muddle through my errors to see the story. **


	17. Chapter 17

17.

~ Rose woke up a hour later complaining loudly she was too hot. Her face was still red and she was sweating. A grumpy look clouding her normally sweet demeanor.  
"I've always been lucky with you, Rose." Ariadne said as she made her daughter take another cool bath. "You've always been healthy, knock on wood, and it was time you got a little sick. I'm just glad you were able to get better."  
"I don't feel good!" Rose whined as if no one in the world suffered more that she did.  
"I know honey." Ariadne said as the child fussed that her head hurt and she was too hot.

~ Once Rose was redressed, Arthur carried her back to her couch.  
"Do you want to color?" he asked.  
"No!" she cried in a petulant voice that would never be happy.  
"Do you want to go to sleep?"

"No!"

"You want something to eat?"

"No!"

"You want me to give you a million dollars?" he asked and Ariadne grinned.  
"No!" Rose cried as she kicked her blankets off and then complained she was too cold.

~ "I don't know where my sweet girl went, but I hope she'll be back soon." Ariadne said when Rose finally took a nap.  
"Ah, it's rotten being sick." Arthur chuckled as she handed him a bowl of stew.

He looked at the pretty lady who had agreed to live with him. He was glad they were moving out of the smaller apartment and into the bigger one upstairs. It might make it harder for them to be found if Eames or the Emperor's people came looking.

Arthur wanted to tell her about Eames and what happened to his men. Yet, with Rose's illness, it would only upset her more. The past few day had created a deep worry line on her forehead that was just starting to go away. Ariadne was begining to look well rested and calmer, and didn't need to be troubled just now.  
"So, um..." Ariadne said as they washed and dried the dishes together. "Are we keeping Rose on the couch again tonight?"

Arthur peered at the little girl asleep on the sofa.  
"I'm not going to poke a sleeping bear, are you?" he whispered.

She let out a giggle as they both agreed Rose was, for now, much more pleasant when she was sleeping.

~ I spoke to the building manager." Arthur said that night as they readied for bed.

It was early, but with Rose still sick, they had little to do other than go to sleep.

"He has a two bedroom apartment on the top floor. It would leave the roof for us to use." Arthur told her as she tried not to look at his bare arms.

Arthur seemed indifferent to his own body. He comfortably shed his clothing to his undershirt and boxers before slipping into bed.

Ariadne had chosen to put her heavy night gown on in the bathroom before coming to bed.

It was strange for her to go to bed with a man she still barely knew. She had never liked sharing a bed with Bill. He snored and kicked her and she never realized how bad he could smell when he was so close.

Arthur was different. His body seemed better suited to hers in the bed and they were able to sleep together amicably.

"Are you sure you want to move?" she whispered as he turned off the light.

She pulled the covers up to her chin and stared at the ceiling.

"We can't keep living in an apartment this small." he said logically. "With times like these, there are plenty of apartments for rent. The one upstairs is nice and it's rent controlled. We should get in now."

"I understand, but we still hardly know each other. Now we're going to live together." she whispered.

"This depression has all sort of people throwing their lots in together." he said softly. "Why should we be any different?"

She rolled over and her nose picked up the musky scent of male she found herself being draw to.

"I just hate to think of what might have happened to us if you hadn't stepped in." she said and tried not to cry again. "How much I owe you and can never pay you back."

Arthur rolled over to face her. Their faces barely inches apart. She was able to breath in the smell of him better as her nose touched his chin. She could smell his inviting after shave from this morning, and she felt something change inside her because of it.

She didn't stop him or move away when he started kissing her lightly on the lips.

She realized her body moved closer to his as the feel of his skin called her closer.

"We need to go to sleep." Arthur whispered as he broke off their kiss and brushed her hair away from her face. "We might be able to move in tomorrow and we'll need our energy."

He rolled away from her and she felt herself ache from the absence.

~ In the morning, things happened very quickly. Arthur spoke to the building manager, and within the hour, he and the rookie who would be taking his old apartment, were moving his things up the stairs.

"Didn't even know you were married, Darling." the young man said as they lugged his father's liquor cabinet up to the new, much more spacious flat.

Arthur wanted to explain, thought better of it, and said nothing.

~ Ariadne stayed in the smaller apartment and packed as best she could. Arthur wasn't one for collecting things and it was easy for the two men to run up and downstairs while she cleaned, organized and made sure nothing was left behind.

Rose stayed out of the way as Ariadne carefully handed them the encyclopedias and other books, the framed pictures on the walls, the kitchen things and clothes.

The last thing to be moved was the sofa, and then Arthur carried Rose up to her new home.

All the commotion of the move caused and elderly neighbor to peek her head out and exclaim over her new neighbors.

"Oh, isn't she lovely!" the old woman said as Rose clung to Arthur's neck and still had the pink cheeks from her sickness.

Ariadne still wasn't convinced Rose was truly well, and was constantly feeling her face for return of fever.  
"I never even knew you had a family, young man." the old woman said as she seemed the sort to want to talk to them.

"We better get her inside." Ariadne said as Rose scowled at the neighbor. She was still cranky from not feeling well. "She's been sick and I don't want to make it worse."

"Of course." the neighbor woman said. "All this time I thought you were a bachelor!" the woman said knowingly.

~ Ariadne hadn't had a chance to see the new apartment and was amazed at the largeness of it. The two bedrooms. The kitchen was large and the bathroom was clean.

Rose cried out sharply when they came into the living room and saw a small Christmas tree in a metal bucket.

"Santa!" Rose cried out eagerly and looked around their new home as if expecting to see the jolly elf. "Mamma, Santa!" she called again as she pointed to the tree.  
"Arthur." Ariadne whispered.

Christmas, how had she forgotten about it?

It was less than a week away and she hadn't bothered to prepare at all. Last year, she had made Rose two new doll dresses, and kitted her some socks and mittens. Rose had gotten some oranges and that was all. Times were too hard, too difficult to pay much attention to toy shops and new things.  
"Arthur!" Ariadne hissed again as he put Rose back on the sofa to rest.

He shrugged a little and gave her a smile.  
"I never had a tree growing up. My father said it was a waste of money." he explained.

Ariadne wanted to tell him how it was a waste of money when Rose whined.

"Can we decorate it? Santa will see it!"

"We sure can, Rosie. But first, I have to go to you old apartment and get the old bed." he said to the little girl.

To Ariadne he looked back at her.

"Anything else you need?" he asked. "From the old place?"  
"Our bed and blankets. I have some nice pots and pans I want to keep. Our dishes. We have our clothes here. Also there's a few photo albums in the closet. The table and chairs aren't worth bringing." she said not wanting to even step foot in that cold attic apartment again.

That world was like another life. One of starvation and being too cold and worried all the time. This new apartment was big, clean and warm. The Christmas tree, though small, dominated the room and made it much more cheerful.

"Alright." Arthur said with an impish smile as he left them for the afternoon.  
~ "I really don't know how to thank you for letting me rent your old apartment for so cheap, Darling." the rookie said as he helped Arthur load up the car with Ariadne's meager possessions. They lashed the bed frame to the roof of the car, curled the mattress over it and everything else fit effortlessly in the back.

"Don't mention it." Arthur grumbled.  
"Me and my wife just got married, and I'm really glad we don't have to live with her folks. They have her brother and his wife living with them, and it's too crowded. No one can afford to live on their own anymore." the rookie said as the came down the stairs to see two men in white aprons carrying something wrapped up in a white sheet.

"What's going on here?" Arthur growled at the two men who were dressed like butchers.

He showed them his detectives badges and they failed to look impressed.

"Outbreak of scarlet fever, sir." One of them said as they carefully put the rolled up body in the back of the meat wagon. "Some lady was taking in kids, there were rats in the building, lot of kids got sick."

Arthur was scowling at the back of the meat truck. Several of the bodies being taken away were small, and obviously children.

"Was her name Alma?" Arthur asked.

One of the men looked at his paper work and nodded.

"Alma Loyd. Yeah. You investigating her or something?" the man asked as he shut the door to the meat truck.  
"Yes, can I talk to her?" Arthur asked.  
"Not unless you got a passport to the other side. She died a few hours ago. This is the tenth body we've picked up in this rat hole neighborhood this week." the man said. "Real health epidemic, detective, I wouldn't stay here."

~ Arthur and the rookie drove home and said very little.

**Got my "Looper" on today. Yeah!**


	18. Chapter 18

18.

~ "Mama, will Santa find us in the new house?" Rose asked as Ariadne hung up a carefully mended sock by the window. She had raided the sewing box that had belonged to Arthur's mother and found little pieces of red lace and green ribbons.

With careful, well practiced hands, she stitched Rose's name into the sock and embellished it with the red lace work and green trim.

The girl was peering over her shoulder as she worked; very interested in what Santa would leave there.

"I hope so, Rose." Ariadne said as she watched Arthur and the rookie come back with her few possessions.

She turned to see her look-a-like girl staring hopefully at the Christmas tree. The didn't have much in the way of decorations, but were able to dress the little tree with red and yellow yarn they found. Rose practicing tying bows on each branch.

The child had no use for tying her own shoes, but decorating the tree seemed a more worthwhile cause.  
"But remember, Rose, you have to be good, or Santa won't come." she said as Rose's little face was still too pink and warm; still weak and prone to fussiness from not feeling well.  
"I will be." Rose promised easily.  
"What do you want Santa to bring you?" Ariadne asked as the apartment was now starting to look like a real home.  
"I can't tell you." Rose said quickly.

"Why not?" Ariadne laughed. "Do you want a new baby? Or new dresses for them?"

"No." Rose said.  
"Maybe Santa can bring you a little cradle for your babies so they don't have to sleep in the shoe box." Ariadne suggested.  
"They like to sleep in the shoe box." Rose told her as she colored a paper angel to be cut out and place on top of the tree.  
"Hmm... maybe something else then? A big girl toy like a jump rope or jax?" Ariadne suggested.  
"No, I don't want those either." Rose said after some thought. She placed her two dolls neatly next to her on the sofa.  
"Well, Rose, how is Santa to know what you want for Christmas?" Ariadne said feeling frustrated.

Rose seemed to think about it for a while.  
"I'm not sure." she looked at her mother. "What do you want Santa to bring you, Mama?" she asked.  
Ariadne leaned over and kissed Rose's forehead.  
"I already got my present, and that's a healthy girl." she said.

~ Arthur didn't know how to tell Ariadne about the outbreak of scarlet fever at her old neighborhood. How Alma died from it and the sitter was most likely the center of the disease.

Instead, he thanked the rookie and started to assemble Ariadne and Rose's bed in the second bedroom.

"You've got Rose all excited about Christmas, Arthur." Ariadne said as she helped him unroll the mattress to the bed she would share once more with her daughter.  
"Yeah.." Arthur said as he tried not to think of those little bodies wrapped up in white sheets.

"She won't tell me what she wants for Christmas. Last year, all she got was some fruit and home made doll dresses. What was your favorite Christmas present?" she asked as they made the bed.  
"I guess so." Arthur said.

Ariadne looked at him curiously, and knew he wasn't listening to her.

"So, I was thinking of doing a flag pole sitting, maybe do a dance marathon in my birthday suit, what do you think? Might be fun." she said casually.  
"Yeah." Arthur said as he let out a long sigh.  
"Arthur, did something happen?" she asked.

"No, why do you ask?"  
"Because you haven't been listening to a word I said since coming home." Ariadne told him.

"Sorry." He said.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Look, I don't know what you and Rose were planning for Christmas, but the station hosts a party for the neighborhood kids. Our chief is the right guy for the job and I was thinking we could bring Rosie down there. Might be fun for her." he said changing the subject.

"Well, maybe she'll tell _him_ what she want's for Christmas. She won't tell me." Ariadne said sadly.  
"Maybe." Arthur agreed and wandered away from her; still lost in his own thoughts.

~ Arthur had the next few days off and when he finally returned back to work, had to endure a great deal of teasing from everyone.  
"Darling." growled Mayer. "You've gotten fat."

"No I haven't." Arthur laughed in surprise. He tried not to burp from the large breakfasts and big dinners Ariadne had made for him the past few days.

"Yeah, you really have." Cobb said looking him over.  
"You got a girlfriend?" Mayer accused roughly.  
"No, I don't have a girlfriend." Arthur said sarcastically.  
"Well, someone is feeding you. You get married last week or something?" Cobb teased.  
"Oh yeah." Arthur said in his most truthful voice. "We've got a five year old little girl and everything. In fact, I'll be bringing her here tonight to sit on chief's lap while he's dressed as Santa."

"You get any fatter, you'll be playing Santa." Mayer growled.

Cobb was smiling knowingly.  
"You can't hid from us Arthur. We're in the business of finding things out." he said. "It it that girl you've been helping out?"

"What girl?" the chief asked.

"After the raid on Eames' place, Arthur took one of the kitchen girls home with him." Cobb explained.  
"She had no place to go and she had a kid, Chief." Arthur interrupted. He realized how this sounded and how it might affect his promotion.  
"You've got a girl living with you?" the chief asked.

No one knew about Arthur's possible promotion, it was still a thing that hung in the balance and Arthur was suddenly worried Cobb had cost him the placement.  
"Cobb, go find something to do." Mayer ordered.  
"What about fatty here?" Cobb asked pointing to Arthur.  
"Leave fatty to me." Mayer said.

Arthur let out a long sigh as he knew what was coming.  
"She has her own room. Her kids been really sick, sir." Arthur said. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Take her to a shelter. Not live in sin with the woman." Mayer growled.

"Those places are dirty and dangerous. Her daughter is just now getting over scarlet fever." Arthur explained.  
"I heard about the outbreak." Mayer said sadly. "Lot of kids dieing because the families couldn't afford to take them to the doctor."

"Right." Arthur said feeling pleased he had proven his point.  
"You having relations with the mother?" Mayer asked.

Arthur took a second to think.  
"No." he said.

Even to himself, it sounded like a lie.

"Hmm." Mayer said. "Men don't get really fat unless their happy in their home life. I used to be good looking and skinny. 30 years of a happy marriage made me fat, bald and ugly."

"Congratulations, sir." Arthur said as he realized he had started sweating.

"Hmm." Mayer said. "I don't know if I can sell you as the kind of man who lives with a woman he isn't related to or married to."

"I'm just helping her. That would count for something." Arthur said feeling defensive.

"Hmm." Mayer said.  
"We're not like that." Arthur said.

Why did he feel like he was in the interrogation room?

"You'll be bringing the kid here tonight for Santa?" Mayer asked.  
"Yes. We put up a tree in the new apartment and everything." Arthur said

"New apartment?" Mayer questioned.  
"Well... we needed more room." Arthur explained. '_Why was it so hot in here?_' he thought.

"Hmm." Mayer said.


	19. Chapter 19

19.

~ It was a picturesque Christmas party for the neighborhood children. The chief made an excellent Santa, even though he complained that he hated to hear the laughter of children.  
"When kids are laughing, that means their happy." he grumbled.

"Relax, chief." Cobb said teasingly as he and Arthur tied on the fake beard. "Next year, Arthur will be so fat he can fill in for you."

"Cobb, you are _so_ much fatter than me." Arthur snapped.

Never, even when his mother was alive had he eaten so well.

"Shut up the both of you." Mayer grumbled. "Now get those brats in here so I can go home."

~ Ariadne held fast to Rose's hand as they wandered around the high school gym that was being used for the party.

The police men had games and prizes for the kids. They had given away tickets to the event that were redeemable for hot dogs, soda and candy.

Rose was delighted she received three tickets for treats right at the door and her name was entered to win prizes off the big table.

Her eyes grew wide at seeing a very convincing Santa sitting on a bench and a line of children were already waiting for him.  
"Santa!" Rose hollered.  
"Rose, don't you want to play the games? You might win something." Ariadne asked.

"No! Santa!" Rose said as she pulled her mother to the somewhat grumpy looking old man.  
"Alright." Ariadne laughed as she looked for Arthur.  
She spotted him and Cobb breaking up a fight between two rowdy boys who were too old for this event. Cobb even pulling them by the ears and kicking them out. Telling them they would be arrested next time and calling them hooligans.

She waved at Arthur who came to them.  
"Waiting to see Santa?" he asked as Rose smoothed over the baby blue coat. Clearly hoping Santa would be impressed.

"Yes, we're not interested in games, candy or soda right now." Ariadne said with a smile.

Arthur whispered in her ear.

"Chief only plays Santa because he has the physic to do it. No need for a pillow along the waist. But he's not very good at it." he said as the Santa in question told one boy he was too heavy and to get off his lap.  
"Get off, kid. Go find your mother." he huffed as Rose was finally next.  
The chief looked annoyed and rolled his eyes as he had to go through at least one more act with the hopeful little girl.  
"Ho, Ho, Ho." he said unenthusiastically. "What do you want, little girl?"

Ariadne stood on her tip toes, and tried with all her might to hear what Rose would asked; but Rose cupped her mouth over Santa's ear and whispered something to him.

Santa gave Arthur a scowl.

But he kept Rose on his lap and even put an arm around her to keep her steady.  
"I only have those lazy elves of mine making toys, kid." he explained. "I don't know if I can deliver that."

"Please? It's all I want. I don't need anything else." Rose said hopefully.

"Well, have you been good all year?" he asked.  
No, but I've been good most of it." Rose answered.

Ariadne let out a laugh.  
"Santa, she's been a very good girl this year." she said as Arthur was smiling.  
"Well, I'll try my best." Santa said.  
"Thank you, Santa." Rose said and kissed his cheek.  
"Good, now get off me kid; go play some games or something." Santa growled.

~ "So are you one of Santa's elves?" Ariadne him asked as they watched Rose toss rings onto empty soda bottles to try and win a prize.

She had her eye on a small pink teddy bear and was determined to win it. Even if it meant bankrupting Arthur at a penny a try.

"Sort of." Arthur laughed as Rose bit her lip and carefully, carefully tossed the ring at the bottle. It landed neatly around a bottle, and Ariadne clapped as the girl was rewarded with the pink bear.

"Can you ask 'Santa' what it was she whispered to him? I want to know what to get her." Ariadne asked as Rose wanted to cash in her tickets for hot dogs, candy and soda.

"This elf doesn't go into Santa's office unless he has to." Arthur laughed.

"Fine." Ariadne said as they watched the kids running around the gym, playing more games to win prizes.  
"It's nice of all of you to do this. A lot of these kids wouldn't have a Christmas otherwise." Ariadne said as the drawing were announced for door prizes.

One girl won the coveted prize of roller skates, a little boy won a box of metal army men. Another girl won a doll with real hair, a boy won a toy gun. Still others were called up to win plastic horses and other animals.

Rose screamed in delight as she was called up to receive a radio flyer wagon with shinny red paint on it.  
"Mamma!" Rose shouted as she pulled it to her mother to the envy of many a child in attendance. "Mama look!"

"I see!" Ariadne laughed as Rose wasn't sure what to do with it first.  
No child went without a present however. Their were more dolls, teddy bears and other toys to give away. Rose seemed completely satisfied by her red wagon and told another boy to go away when he wanted to know is she wanted to trade the hobby horse he got.

"I'm going to go find 'Santa'. Find out what Rose told him" Ariadne announced as Rose and another girl pulled their newly acquired toys in the wagon.

"Can you watch her?" she asked as Arthur smiled at the girls. The children going into a group of other girls to play and show off their loot.  
"Sure." Arthur said as Cobb broke up another fight among the boys.

~ Over an hour had passed and Ariadne still had not returned. Most of the kids had gone home and Rose was getting restless as it was already past her bedtime.  
She was pulling her wagon in tow as Arthur started looking for her mother.  
"Cobb have you seen Ariadne?" he asked as they started to clean up the mess.  
"No, Cobb said as his own kids were complaining they wanted to go home.  
Arthur took Rose's hand to keep her from wandering off.  
"She was looking for the chief." Arthur explained. "That was over an hour ago."

"Chief went home after he talked to your kid." one of the rookies said nodding to Rose. "Wasn't feeling well."  
Arthur felt confused and looked around for Ariadne.  
"She should have come back by now." he said worriedly.

Cobb nodded and he asked his wife Mal to look after Rose while they went outside the station to look for her.  
"She wouldn't have gone home without saying something. She wouldn't have left Rose." Arthur told Cobb as they walked quickly around the station.

"No, she wouldn't." Cobb agreed.  
"Ariadne!" Arthur shouted into the still neighborhood.  
"We don't want to scare the kid, Arthur." Cobb said.  
"What do we do?" Arthur said feeling panicked. "Where could she be?"

"Does she have family here?" Cobb asked.  
"No, none!" Arthur shouted.  
"Any other friends that might have picked her up?"

"Oh, God. Cobb, what if she's been kidnapped?" Arthur breathed. "Pretty woman like her. I mean, we know that happens a lot."

"Here? With cops everywhere? No one is that stupid to try and take a woman." Cobb reassured him.  
"It would have had to been someone she knows." Arthur stammered.

How would he explain to Rose what happened to her mother? What would he do with the little girl without Ariadne?  
A cold, vise like fear took hold of him and turned his blood to ice water.  
"Eames." he breathed. "Eames has her."


	20. Chapter 20

20.

~ Ariadne had left the gymnasium to find Santa, but couldn't. He seemed to have vanished into the snowy night. All she wanted was to find out what Rose wanted for Christmas. A new doll or a dress for herself?

Of course, she really couldn't afford anything, but she still wanted to know. Rose wasn't one for keeping secrets from her mother and Ariadne didn't like that there was an aspect of her child she didn't know.

She hoped to catch the man who played Santa outside, but was rewarded with only an empty parking lot and more snow.

She wrapped her arms over her body a little better and decided to go back inside. Rose was playing with the other kids and Arthur would be wanting to go home soon.

It had been a good night. Almost as good as any Christmas morning she could remember. Rose was shocked and thrilled to win her red wagon and her pink bear. She had loved to eat the hot dog and drink the soda. She would not doubt save her chocolate for later. The child tended to make treats last.

Ariadne was about to turn back to the gymnasium, back to the happy shouting children, when a car horn sounded.

"There you are, honey!" came a shout in a familiar voice.

Ariadne turned to see Bill, her husband that had vanished all those months ago, leaning out of a car window.  
She gaped at him like she was seeing a ghost. He was fatter and sloppier looking than she remembered. His clothes were wrinkled and he looked sickly and bloated.  
"Took me forever to find you!" he laughed as he banged on the car door.  
"Bill?" she questioned still not believing it was really him.

"Yeah it's me." Bill said as Ariadne spotted another man in the driver's seat.

She leaned forward to get a good look at her husband, when the smell of cheap booze wafted towards her. She leaned back and almost wretched. It was the odor of bad moonshine and vomit. Bill had been sick on himself.  
"Honey, is Rose with you? I miss my girls, you know?" Bill said as he wiped his mouth.  
"Then why did you abandon them; leave them to starve?" Ariadne asked as she covered her nose with her hand.

Bill laughed.

"No one was starving, honey. You still have your job." he said.  
"I lost my job, Bill!" Ariadne spat at him.

Bill rolled his eyes.  
"Yeah, but you go on with Mr. Eames. Ronnie here saw you going into his place. You were making good money with the raid happened. I always said you were cute enough not to give it away." Bill laughed.

Ariadne felt a sharp prickle of rage.

He knew she was working at Eames' and never said anything? Didn't try to help her or their daughter? What's worse was that he thought she was working the floor. That she was a prostitute and still, he did nothing.  
"I was in the kitchens, Bill. For $10 a week." Ariadne said coldly.  
"Sure you were." Bill laughed.

"How did you find me?" Ariadne asked.

"Some guys were looking for me at the old place. Saw these two men taking our bed and stuff out. Figured they would follow them. You know, looking out for me like they do." Bill explained. "Said you were living in a real nice home with a nice looking guy now."

"Bill, you left." Ariadne interrupted.  
He looked angry at being cut off.  
"I know I left." he growled.

Ariadne was about to turn and leave. She didn't want to see Bill ever again. Maybe she would find a way to get $5 to get a divorce. She could never go back to him again.

"Honey, wait I got money for you and Rose." he called back.

She stopped and turned back to him.

Bill was stepping out of the car and waving at her.  
"Come on and we can talk. I got money to give you." he promised as he looked around the deserted parking lot.  
"Hurry up, Shannon." the driver said as Ariadne walked back to the car.

She was ready to tell Bill off. Ready to use language she never used when his suddenly strong, ape like body took her and slammed her head into the car door. She vaguely remembered seeing blood dropping on the snow before passing out.

~ Eames was drinking alone at his deserted bar, when Arthur stormed in.  
The speakeasy owner had been enjoying a quite reprieve while listening to the radio and smoking. His bar was empty after the raid, and no one was even watching the front door anymore. There was no booze to protect, no girls to look after. So, Mr. Eames decided to have a night off and spend it drinking alone. The sound of the front door banging open was enough to make the owner look up to see the irate detective let himself in.  
"Don't you boys ever knock?" Eames grumbled as he didn't bother to hid a bottle of sipping whiskey. Instead, he held up an upside down shot glass to his guest.  
"Drink?" he offered.  
"Funny." Arthur growled.  
"Yeah, I'm known for my sense of humor." Eames said.

Arthur counted to five in his head to give himself a chance to cool off.  
"You know what's not funny? The fact that Rose doesn't know where her mother is tonight." he said at last.

Eames took a long breath and poured himself another glass.  
"Why is that, Darling?" he asked at last.  
"You know why. Where is she? I've come to take her home." Arthur growled.  
"Who?" Eames asked wrinkling his brow.  
"Ariadne." Arthur said through gritted teeth. "Who do you think? You have a lot of nerve kidnapping her in front of a building full of cops."

"What are you talking about, Darling?" Eames said obviously trying to sober up.

Arthur didn't buy the innocent act.  
"I took Ariadne and her daughter to the neighborhood Christmas party we throw and she disappears as soon as my back was turned. I've got her daughter worried sick about her and staying with my friend Cobb." Arthur said loudly.

"Someone took Ariadne?" Eames pieced together at last.

"Yes, Eames. _You_ took her. She trusted you and got in the car with you." Arthur said exasperated.  
Eames looked around his still gutted out speakeasy. It looked vacant and still in shambles from the raid.

"Does it look like I've been entertaining visitors tonight, Darling?" Eames huffed at him as he stood. He was slightly wallaby on his feet and clutched the bar for balance.

Arthur took the time to look around the once lively bar area. The chairs were up on the tables, even covered in white sheets to keep dirt off. Since Eames' doorman and body guards were murdered, the bar had been shut down completely.

"You know what happened to her." Arthur growled.  
"You know I don't." Eames said.

"You've been following her. You found out where she lives."

"So?"

"Eames, let her go. If she wanted to be with you, she would. Let her go and I'll make sure you won't spend the rest of you're live in the most hellish parts of Blackwell island." Arthur threatened.

Eames let out a half suppressed laugh.

"I know all about the girl you keep, Eames. Fanny? I know how you pay her to act like a cute house wife and how you call her Ariadne." Arthur accused.

Eames seemed to think for a moment. The speakeasy owner turned to Arthur with a manic look in his eyes. Arthur didn't flinch away. Ariadne's life was dependent on it.  
"Darling, you don't scare me." Eames said as he clearly was sobering up.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. I've been here all night. How long has she been gone?" Eames asked.

"At least an hour." Arthur said.

Eames was nodding as he put away his drink.

"You said it was someone she knew?" he asked.  
"We assume she got into the car willingly. No one is stupid enough to kidnap a woman in front of a building full of cops." Arthur explained.  
Eames nodded.  
"Oh, you'd be surprised at how many stupid people there are out there, Darling." he said. "She doesn't know too many people with cars does she?" he said thinking out loud.

"No." Arthur said.

He was starting to suspect less and less that Eames was involved.

Eames reached behind the bar and retrieved a black phone. It gave a satisfying ding as he placed it roughly on the bar and picked up the receiver.

He apparently had a number memorized and Arthur watched as the rotary spun back on it's own with each dial.

Eames smoothed out his hair and tried to look presentable as the Arthur could only hear a muffled voice pick up the phone.

"Yeah, is this Ronnie the Rat?" he asked.  
Arthur rolled his eyes. Didn't gangsters ever have real grown up names?

"Yeah, it's Eames."  
"Rat, you get that shipment of beer I sent to you yesterday? Good!" Eames said with that annoying smile Arthur hated.  
Arthur glared at him and Eames put a hand up.  
"Listen, I was hoping you could tell me if that drunk Bill Shannon got his debt squared away." Eames asked. "Yeah the one who's into you for $100."

Eames listened as his face turned slightly ugly.  
"Rat, there's no need for that." Eames said.

More talk on the other end.  
"She with you?" he asked.

Arthur felt his heart start to race. Hope daring to find him.  
"Alright, Rat listen. That girl has nothing to do with Bill and you know it. She's broke like everyone else." Eames said. "Why don't I come by and pay up on the lush's tab; she comes home with me?"

"Eames?" Arthur said in a growl.

"Right." Eames said into the phone. "Rat, if you don't give me the girl, I'll find you by the end of the night; you won't like what will happen then. How's that sound?"

Eames was suddenly angry in a way Arthur had never seen him before.  
His eyes were wide and frightening as he listened to this rat person on the other line.  
"Alright, have it your way." Eames said and slammed down the receiver.

"Eames, tell me what's going on." Arthur demanded.  
"Let's just say her husband got into debt with the wrong people and they intend to take their pay from her." Eames said as he was walking out of the bar; Arthur close behind him.


	21. Chapter 21

21.

~ Ariadne woke up Bill pacing nervously back and forth in front of her. She was cold, and it took her a long time to understand she was laying on the freezing floor of some warehouse.

Bill noticed she had come to and started to smooth out her hair and face. That same reeking smell of booze and vomit still clinging to him.

"Honey, it's okay. It's okay." he said as his clumsy hands pawed her hair.

"Bill?" she croaked and tried to sit up. Her head hurting from the blow he had given her. "You hit me!" she accused.

"I know, Honey, but you had it coming. Talking back to me like you did, and in front of my friend. You can't do that to a man. You know better." he said.

He was leaning over her in such a way that she couldn't get up or move.  
"Bill, get off me!" she hissed as she tried to push him away.  
"I'll take you home soon, but you need to do something for me first." Bill explained excitedly. "It hasn't been easy since I let you and Rose go. I've been having to make do on my own, you know. I've been living in the shanty town in Central Park. You think that's been easy for me? I got into trouble with the wrong people and you gotta help me out."

"I don't have to do anything!" Ariadne cried as she tried to push him away.

"Listen to me, you owe me this!" he said as he roughly pushed her back on the floor. "I know you were charging $25 a guy when you were working for Eames. All I want is for you to take care of my friend there and he says my debt is wiped clean."

"What? I'm not a prostitute!" Ariadne cried as Bill, frustrated with her now, hauled her up on her feet. "You weren't the best lay going, Honey." he barked in her face. "Always were a cold fish, but I'm still your husband and your gonna do this for me!"

He was pulling her over to the ugly man who was driving the car. Ariadne found the strength to struggle against him, but Bill's large body and strong hands were like fighting against a rock.  
"Bill! Stop it!" she screamed.  
"I know you're living with another man! You can't tell me you're not a whore!" he growled as he pulled her by the hair and she screamed.

The other man was looking at her and licking his lips. His hands touching his groin and going to her coat. She screamed again and tried to break free.

"This should be nothing at all to you. It won't even matter to a girl like you." Bill said at the other man started to pull off her coat.

~ Arthur trusted Eames as far as he could throw him, but didn't have a lot of options just now.

"That's Ronnie's car." Eames said as Arthur turned the head lights off his own car and drove quietly up to a warehouse.

No sooner were they out walking, when they heard a woman scream. He was quick to pull out his service weapon and cock back the hammer.

Arthur had to admit it, if Eames hadn't chosen a life of crime, he would have made an excellent cop.

The detective didn't even have to say a word as Eames checked the doors, windows and found a way into the warehouse.

Arthur followed him in and, together, they found Ariadne.

The two men huddled behind broken wooden pallets as they watched Ariadne being pulled by her hair and forced into the groping hands of a sleazy looking man. The ape like pig holding her, telling her to shut up as she screamed again.

Arthur almost shot the man who had her by the hair. Another man pulling off her coat as she screamed and tried to fight.

Arthur was about to shoot them, when Eames took over.

It was like he was possessed. The speakeasy owner gracefully taking hold of the man who held Ariadne's hair and cut his throat out with a large hunting knife. Blood spilling down the man's chest as he let Ariadne go, his hands going to the gasping wound in his neck. Stupidly trying to close it with his hands as he choked on his own blood.

The big man fell to the floor as Ariadne went with him. She was still crying and Arthur ran to her.

"It's okay." he whispered as she seemed to not understand what was happening.

The sight of the blood made her scream wildly as Arthur tried to calm her down.  
"Arthur!" she cried and scurried away from the man who was now drowning in his own blood.

Eames didn't look back as Arthur pulled her away from the dieing man.

"We're going to go home now." he said as Eames eyed the man about to take off Ariadne's coat.  
"Eames," the man said. "this was _my_ business, it's got nothing to do with you. Bill... he was just settling his debts. She's just a whore. This is nothing new to her." he said putting his hands up. Eames was advancing on him. His knife still out and ready to inflict more damage.

"Eames." the man said with a laugh. "Come on now."

Arthur knew exactly what this man was about to do to Ariadne. He had seen this too many times on the job and an irrational hatred boiled in him at the sight of this piggy little man.

Arthur trained his gun on him, and before he could stop himself, a loud shot rang out.

Ariadne screamed at the noise.

Arthur looked stupidly at his own gun. He had never shot an unarmed man before; it was so easy to make the decision to pull the trigger.

The man's face contorted in pain as he stumbled away from Eames. His hands clutching his gut where Arthur had shot him.

Eames was like a tiger attacking. His knife cutting across the throat of the man and sending him to the floor covered in his own blood.

Eames looked at them, his breathing hard as Arthur couldn't believe what had happened. What had he done? He had murdered a man.

"Take her home, Darling." Eames growled. His eyes still manic and angry. "I'll clean up here, and take Rat's car home."

Arthur didn't move. Ariadne was still holding him. Her face hidden in his chest. Not wanting to see the blood or the two dead men.

"Get out of here, Arthur!" Eames shouted.

~ Years would pass, and Arthur would still not be able to recount how he managed to make his feet work that night. How he got Ariadne out of the warehouse and into his car. How he drove them home without getting into an accident.

Ariadne had stayed quite while he drove. She didn't cry or speak as they wove through the empty streets.  
"Rose is with my friend Cobb and his wife. They have a daughter her age." Arthur said to her.

She didn't respond and only sniffed back a sob.  
"Arthur? Are those men dead?" she asked as she tried not to start crying again.  
"Yes." he said and she wiped away new tears.

He looked at her nervously.  
"Ariadne?" he said "We can't ever talk about what happened tonight."

She shook her head.  
"This is how it has to be." he told her as they reached the apartment. "I would go to prison for murder."

"That man was going to rape me!" she cried.  
"I know, but I was with Eames, and I shot an unarmed man." he explained calmly. "We can't tell anyone about this."

"It was Bill. My husband. That's who was holding me. That's who Eames killed." she explained.

Arthur nodded.

"I know. It will be alright." he whispered.


	22. Chapter 22

22.

~ The safety of their apartment didn't ease the tension Arthur was feeling as he laid out a newspaper on the kitchen table.

Ariadne had retreated to the bathroom where he could hear her periodically crying as she took a hot bath.

This wasn't the first time he had shot his weapon before. Not the first time he killed a man either. But this was the first time he had shot someone while he wasn't on the job. This Ronnie the Rat person hadn't pulled a gun on him, wasn't even aware he and Eames were there. Arthur was sure he would have surrendered if he had identified himself as a police man.

But things didn't happen that way. Instead, Arthur had shot a man with no weapon, and Eames had finished the job.

With confident, if not trembling hands, Arthur unloaded the barrel of his 38 special. The missing bullet seeming very obvious to him as he cleaned and oiled his gun. The newspaper doing a good job of protecting the table from the oil and grease of the piece.

Arthur took it apart, lovingly oiled and rubbed it dry. Used his father's cleaning kit to brush off every speck of evidence in the barrel to.

It was odd how close he felt to the old man just now. As if he were sitting at the table with him. Many times in Arthur's childhood, their father would clean his guns and talk to the two boys about gun safety and protecting the home.  
'_Never let someone take your gun away from you, Arthur. If you hesitate to pull the trigger, you've just given your life away. Someone comes at you to try and hurt the people you love, you pull the trigger._' he had said.

Arthur suddenly let the halfway reassembled side arm fall with a thud to the kitchen table. He felt queasy like he was sea sick. He had never felt this way when he had shot someone on the job.

He had never had to keep those shootings, those '_good kills_' a secret.

No one could ever know about this.

If anyone asked him about them, Arthur would lie. Even if Eames ratted them out, who would the DA and other cops believes anyway? A decorated detective or a sleazy speakeasy owner?

He let out a long sigh as Ariadne finally came out of the bathroom. Her face red and swollen from crying.  
"You alright?" he asked as he didn't look at her and went back to reassembling his weapon. All evidence of him firing it, were almost entirely gone. All he had to do was replace the bullet.

"Yes." she whispered.

He finally looked up at her and saw her face would soon have bruising on it. In the heat and fear of the moment, he hadn't noticed it before.

"What happened here?" he asked as his thumb and forefinger graced over her bruised cheek and forehead.

"Bill." she said with a mirthless laugh.

Arthur looked down at his gun and snapped the barrel back into place.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne." he whispered.  
"I'm the one who's sorry." she told him. "You shouldn't have gotten involved. It's not your fight."

He gave her a hard look then and she almost shrank away from him.

"You really think I would let those men hurt you? That I would just walk away from that?" he asked.

"Arthur, will you be arrested?" she asked worriedly.  
"No."

"Are you sure?" she pleaded.  
"There is no way they can prove I shot him, or that I was even there." he assured her.  
"Eames was there."

"No one will believe him. Beside, people like Eames don't roll." Arthur said as he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

Perhaps she saw his hands trembling, Ariadne reached for him and her let her warm, soft fingers lace with his.  
"So, what do we do now?" she asked.

"Now, we go on with our lives. We pick Rose up from Cobb's in the morning, and you never say a word to anyone about seeing Bill. If anyone asks about the bruises, you say you slipped on some ice and that was why you went home early. Don't elaborate, don't give anyone any additional information. One of the ways we interrogate people is, we let them explain themselves into a jail cell. Don't explain anything unless someone asks." he told her as he slipped his gun back into the leather holster.

"Oh, God." she whimpered.

"No one will ask, Ariadne." Arthur told her.

She nodded and stood up.

Her hands going to the flesh at the back of his neck as she went down the hall to the bedrooms.

She stopped and turned back to the kitchen.

Arthur looked up expectantly. Her sweet face, her large doe like eyes as she stood trembling in front of him.  
"Come to bed, Arthur." she whispered.

~ He stood up. The kitchen chair making a protesting sound as it was pushed across the floor.

Ariadne felt she was breathing hard as she watched this man approach her. Instinctively, she backed up into his bedroom. Allowing him an easy chance to pursue her.

She didn't want to be alone tonight. The thought of going to bed by herself after what happened, was unbearable. Her eyes flickered to his exposed arms as he met her with an easy stride.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he gently kissed the top of her forehead.

She was nodding as her hands found the flesh of his arms and worked up to his chest.

Her body seeking his. A comfort after the horrible ordeal she had endured the past few hours. She wanted him as surely as she had ever wanted anything.  
"You don't want to just go to sleep?" Arthur whispered as she was pulling off his belt. "You've been through a lot tonight."

His voice was shaking slightly and Ariadne thought it was cute he was nervous.

With a strange bravery she had never felt before, she pulled her night dress off her head; revealing that she wore nothing at all under it. Her bare, exposed body available for him in the moonlight.

Arthur stood slightly back, looking her over as his breathing sped up.

He seemed to have trouble concentrating as he looked over her pale skin.

She could feel her cheeks growing warm as the cool air laced it's way over the normally hidden parts of her body.  
"I guess you don't want to sleep." he said as his hands lightly touched her bare breasts and his lips were on hers again.

~ "I told my chief I wasn't having relations with you." Arthur whispered hours later.

Ariadne was snuggled contentedly against him. Her nose buried deep in his chest as he breathed in the smell of her clean hair.

"I guess things change." she whispered.

He smiled.  
"I guess so."

He curled one of her dark locks in his fingers and tried not to fall asleep.

"We just... I can't have you get pregnant just now." he whispered.

He felt her lashes brush across his bare chest as her eyes opened. She didn't say anything.

He felt the need to go on.  
"We're not married. We... it wouldn't look right if you became pregnant without us being married." he explained.

"You're worried about your promotion?" she asked. Her warm breath tickling his skin.

"The board is a bunch of old men with old values." he explained.

"Oh." she said.  
"So, we... we can't get pregnant. Understand?" he told her.  
"We didn't exactly take precautions tonight." she whispered, her face still buried in his chest.  
"I know." Arthur said feeling nervous.


	23. Chapter 23

23.

~ "The bodies of Ronnie 'The Rat' Delgado and some drunk named Bill Shannon washed up in the Hudson this morning, along with the Rat's car." chief Mayer said the next day.  
"Oh?" Arthur asked.  
"Yeah, one was a low level rum runner, the other was a resident of Hooverville." the chief said. "Dead beat drunk who was in the clink every other night."

"How does this involve _our _department?" Cobb asked as Arthur took notes in a little book and tried to look like this was news to him.  
"Because the way they were killed is suspicious, Cobb." the chief growled.  
Arthur was about to ask how, remembered his own advice to Ariadne, and looked over his notes in silence.  
"The throat of each man was cut ear to ear. We think it's the trade mark of Mr. Eames. You remember a few of his boys defied him last year. Tried to cut him out as a middle man. They turned up in the Hudson with their throats cut." the chief told them.

"We can tell the DA that, because he wouldn't prosecute Eames for the raid, that those men are dead now." Cobb said smugly.

"No one gives a damn about Ronnie the Rat or some drunk!" the chief snapped. "There's one other thing that has the NYPD in a bind, gentlemen."

"What?" Arthur asked at last.

Outwardly, he looked calm and almost bored.  
"The Rat had a 38 special slug in his gut. The same kind of bullets that is standard issue to every cop in the city." the chief said.  
"Anyone can buy a 38 Special." Cobb said logically.  
"Be that as it may, the feds may become involved. That prick J Edger Hoover with his talk about finger prints and something called ballistics might decide to get involved."  
"Over Ronnie the Rat?" Cobb asked.  
"Over possible corruption in the police force." the chief said. "Right now, I want you to hand me your guns and I'll check them over."

Arthur breathed a silent prayer that he had cleaned and reloaded his weapon last night. It looked like it had never even been fired.  
He handed his gun over to the chief without protest, and Cobb was quick to follow. Mayer looked over Cobb's weapon first.  
"When was the last time you cleaned this thing, Cobb?" he growled. "You're asking for it to jam on you."

Cobb shrugged.

The chief looked annoyed as he examined Arthur's gun.  
"Very good. When was the last time you fired this?" he asked.  
"A month ago." Arthur said automatically. "Warning shot over at Hooverville, during a riot."

"Good." the chief said. "Cobb, go find something to do." the chief barked and slid him back his sidearm.

Arthur had hopped to be released to, but the chief only unloaded his gun and carefully put the bullets back in, one by one.  
"You cleaned this last night. I can still smell the oil." he growled.  
"I did." Arthur admitted.  
"Why?"

"So it wouldn't jam, sir."

"Where did your lady friend, Ariadne, turn up last night? I heard she left, and you couldn't find her." the chief asked.  
Arthur took a deep breath and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, she walked home."

"Why didn't she wait for you and the little one?"

"She had fallen onto some ice. Didn't want to worry Rose with the blood." Arthur explained with a shrug.  
"So... she _walked _home in the middle of winter?" the chief asked.  
"We only live two blocks away, not a big deal." Arthur said casually.  
"People said you were upset when you couldn't find her." the chief said.  
"Who said that?" Arthur asked with a laugh.

His insides felt like they were filled with shards of glass.

The chief shrugged.  
"Just people." he said casually.

"They misheard. Everything is fine." Arthur said.

"Everything-is-fine." the chief repeated and looked again at Arthur's weapon.

Arthur counted to ten in his mind and tried to look aloof.

Inside, he was raging. J. Edger Hoover and his boys were coming to investigate? What would they find out? What was ballistics anyway? He had never heard of it.

"Son, if this Rat person was hurting you or your lady friend, you have every right to shoot him. You know that." the chief said.

Arthur said nothing.  
"As it is, I'm not sure what to think when the Rat shows up floating in the river, his throat slit, and a cops bullet in him. To make it worse, he's floating next to the guy your lady friend is married to." the chief explained.  
Arthur said nothing.  
"I did some checking, Bill Shannon leaves behind a wife of seven years Ariadne. They have a daughter together named Rose." the chief said looking at a file.

Arthur said nothing.

The chief slammed down his fist on the table and glared at him.

"You tell me that the Rat and this Bill asshole were hurting her, trying to kill her or whatever, and you shot him in defense of a woman right now, Darling." he growled. "I better not have Hoover's boys thinking that you killed two men over a lover's quarrel."

Arthur counted to ten as he looked the chief in the eyes. How much did the chief know? How much did he _think_ he knew? If he told the truth, explained about how he and Eames, a known criminal, had found Bill and Ronnie, what would happen? Arthur had shot an unarmed man. Watched Eames kill the both of them and didn't report it after it happened.

Even if he confessed everything now, he would certainly lose his promotion. Perhaps even his job. He would be on the bread lines before the end of the day.

"I can see how you would think I would be involved." Arthur told him.

"You can?" the chief asked.  
"But a 38 special is a popular gun. We can't be sure it came from a cop." Arthur said.  
The chief eyed him suspiciously.  
"Where did you go after the party, Darling?" the chief asked.  
"I took Rosie home. Ariadne was there already." Arthur said.  
"So no drama? No fighting?" the chief asked.  
"Oh, no." Arthur assured him.

"Hmm." The chief said.

"What do you think Hoover and his boys will find? Enough to put Mr. Eames away for good this time?" Arthur asked.  
"Maybe." the chief said. "I hope they won't find enough to put one of my best cops away for life."

"Look, you need me to say I didn't shoot Ariadne's husband, I didn't shoot the guy." Arthur said. Intentionally mixing up the facts.  
"Ronnie Delgado. The bullet was in Ronnie Delgado." the chief corrected.

Arthur perused his notes. Made a mark.  
"Right, sorry about that. I did not shoot Ronnie Delgado." Arthur told him. He looked over his notes some more and pretended to think.  
"That name sounds familiar, he works for Mr. Eames, right?" Arthur asked.  
"We think so." the chief said.  
"And the way he was killed, that is consistent with how Eames... well, _deals_ with some of his more unsavory associates." Arthur added.

"Hmm." the chef said.  
"It's possible this is all on our speakeasy owner?" Arthur asked.  
"What about the gun shot wound? That's not Eames' style." Mayer said suspiciously.  
"Right, but it's not easy for one guy to cut the throats of two people. Maybe he shot one, and_ then_ cut their throats." Arthur offered.

'_Don't say anymore._' Arthur told himself. '_Don't explain yourself into a jail cell. You've just given reasonable doubt. Don't embellish._'

He sat back and shrugged his shoulders.  
"So it's just a coincidence that Mrs. Shannon's husband was a victim?" the chief asked.  
"I don't know, chief. She hasn't heard from him in months now." Arthur said sadly. "It sounds like he was into some bad people."

"Why would Mr. Eames come after him?" the chief asked.  
"How would I know?" Arthur asked.  
"Hmm." the chief said.  
"Listen, is it alright if I go home? I need to tell Ariadne they found her husband's body." Arthur said as he stood.  
"Go ahead." Mayer said.

Arthur was about to leave when the chief called him back.  
"You really should think more about becoming a lawyer, Darling. You managed to tear down my case against you in less then five minutes." he said.  
"It's because I had nothing to do with it, sir." Arthur said casually.  
"It's because you're guilty as hell and I can't prove it." the old man growled.

Arthur felt his pulse race as the chief glared at him.  
"You gonna marry the woman now? This Ariadne Shannon? Her husband's dead. She's a free woman." the chief told him.  
"We haven't talked about it."

"Hmm." the chief said and Arthur turned to leave.  
"Cuz that little girl, Rosie," the chief said as he was leaving. "she told me she wanted you to be her new daddy for Christmas. Then her old daddy ends up floating in the river 12 hours later. I guess that's just a coincidence."


	24. Chapter 24

24.

~ Ariadne was staring numbly at the soapy water in the kitchen sink. Her train of thought lost as she could no longer focus on dishes.

She and Arthur had gone to pick Rose up that morning from Cobb's home. Arthur explained to him to say Rose was never there. Cobb wanting to know what happened, Arthur giving very little information.

Ariadne was relived to see her daughter. Last night, after what happened with Bill, she was sure she would never see her look-a-like girl again.

She was sure she would be raped and killed. Her body left in an ally and Rose would be dependent on the charity of others to care for her.

Hopefully, Arthur would take care of her. But he wasn't related to her. And he said last night he didn't want her to fall pregnant.

Arthur was like all men. He liked the idea of a family so long as the house was clean, the wash was done, supper was in the oven and the child was out of the way.

If all that went away, if all he had was five year old that wasn't his, how would he deal with it? How long before he left her with the church; with some orphanage?

Ariadne swallowed hard and tried not to think about it.  
She was alive. It was Bill who was dead now and she was still here to take care of her girl. She had to stay alive for Rose.

She was broken from her thoughts by the door buzzing.

"Who is it?" she called through the intercom.

"Eames. Can you let me up?" he asked in his charming accent.

Ariadne stepped back from the intercom like it was dangerous thing.

'_What is he doing here?_' she thought.

In an instant, she buzzed him in and unlocked her door; waiting for him to arrive. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. Knew he could have let her be killed last night. But the images of what he was capable of, lingered heavily in her mind. That horrible look in his eyes when he cut Bill's throat. When he cut the throat of that other man.

She wrapped her arms around her chest as Eames' footfalls were outside, and he knocked on the front door.  
"Come in." she called out softly and bit her lip.

She was surprised to see him so sharply dressed. Looking handsome and well to do.  
"I just came to say goodbye, Ariadne." he said as he sat down a leather suitcase.

"You're leaving?" she asked.

He removed what looked like a newly purchased fedora hat and smiled at her.  
"I sure am. New York City is played out. Going to California, where the sun shines everyday. That's how the song goes." he laughed.

She gave him a smile. Deep down, she liked Mr. Eames. If he wasn't such a scoundrel, she would have liked to have known him better.  
"Where's the little one?" he asked.  
"Sleeping. She's still worn out from the party last night." Ariadne explained.  
"Yes, last night was eventful." Eames admitted.  
"Yes." she whispered.  
"I'm sorry you had to see that." he said. "I've never liked having to do that, but I do it to protect those I care about."

His eyes flickered over her.  
"To protect what's mine." he added.

"I'm just glad you and Arthur were there to stop it." she said feeling a blush creep over her.

"About that." he laughed and looked like he had bad news. "That whole thing has made life for me a little more complicated then I like. The wrong people are going to get the wrong idea about me, gossiping and what not. Why I'm leaving the city."

"Wrong people?" she questioned.  
"Police mainly." Eames laughed. "Don't worry, no one is coming after you or Arthur. I fixed it. I bragged around town how I did the dirty deeds alone. Rumors will get about naturally and I'll already be gone."

She nodded.

"You really have to leave? I thought you were going to open you're bar back up." she asked.

He smiled and shook his head.

"I've had it with that life. Might go work on a railroad. People still make a fortune out west even in a depression. I wanted you to have this." he said and gave her the suitcase.

"What is it?" she asked.

He swallowed hard.  
"I've had to deal with bad people, Ariadne. They killed some of my men recently, and their going to come after me now." he told her. "I was planning on leaving last night, but then your situation came up."

"Oh." was all she knew to say.  
"Long story short, I sold the bar and the rest of my stash and now I'm flushed with cash." he laughed.

Ariadne noticed how heavy the suitcase was.  
"Don't worry, I've got more for my fresh start." he assured her. "I want you to have some money in case you need it. I don't want you to have to depend on Arthur. I don't want you or Rose to live with him unless you want to."

"Eames." she whispered. She was suddenly afraid.  
"Don't worry. Like I said, no one is coming after you." he told her. "That money is if you want to get a place for you and Rose on your own. Maybe even go back to school so you can get a good job and take care of her. I think Darling is a good man, but I know you're the kind of girl who wants to be independent. Who doesn't want to need someone else to provide for her."

She looked at him worriedly as he put his fedora back on and turned to leave.  
"I want you to keep the money. No strings attached. Buy Rose some nice presents for Christmas." he said and left the apartment without looking back.

~ Ariadne locked herself in the bathroom and opened the leather suitcase. It was filled to capacity with tightly bound bills; still in their banking strips. She had never in her life seen a fifty dollar bill. The way president Grant looked was odd as she counted his face over and over again. The late presidents Grant and Jackson spread out in neat little piles on the bathroom floor as she counted.

She sat up at last, her back hurting.  
'_That can't be right_.' she thought to herself. '_$75,000* can't be right_.'

***close to one million in todays money**


	25. Chapter 25

25.

~ "Mamma, it's Christmas!" Rose whispered as Ariadne wanted to roll over and sleep more.

Her look-a-like girl was such an early bird, and this Christmas seemed especially important to her.  
"Mamma!" Rose said shaking her awake.  
"Rose, it's too early." Ariadne groaned in self pity.  
"No, Mamma. Santa was here already! Get up!"

"He was?" Ariadne asked with a little grin.  
She and Arthur had waited until Rose had gone to bed before setting out the green tricycle with Steamboat Wille* painted on the fender. It would be a little big for her, but Arthur said Rose would grow into it.

He had bought it just before the move and kept it locked in his bedroom closet. Ariadne had told him it was too much, Arthur insisting it was the present he had always wanted as a boy, so the matter was settled.

Not a grand at the tricycle, but still nice, was a new baby doll and doll cradle for Rose. Her mother still not sure what the child really wanted from Santa that year.

~ After counting the money Eames gave her, Ariadne hid the leather suitcase in the closet. When Arthur had come home, assuring her that no one would investigate him for what happened, she had been so relived, she forgot to even mention the money.

Then, he better judgment said not to mention it at all.

Ariadne had been almost as excited as Rose last night when she and Arthur placed the new tricycle and doll by the tree and slipped back to their separate rooms.

Arthur asking if she wanted to sleep with him; Ariadne ignoring the question as she went to bed with her daughter.

~ "Yes, he was here! Get up!" Rose whined.

Ariadne roused herself awake and pulled on her robe as there was a knock on her door.  
"Ariadne? Rose? Santa was here!" Arthur called out from behind the door.

"Rose, wait!" Ariadne called as the little girl bounded off the bed and raced to the door.

Arthur was waiting for them. A large grin on his face as Rose scurried past him to the tree.  
"Rose, wait!" her mother called again as she tried to shield herself from Arthur seeing her in her night gown.

She couldn't explain why, but things between them were so strange now. She was suddenly very uncomfortable around him. It wasn't just the money and it's origins she was hiding from him, or the horrible secret of what really happened that night of the party. It was something else.  
"Rose, wait for your mother." Arthur called as they reached the living room, but it was too late.  
"Mamma!" Rose screamed wildly as she pulled the baby doll out of the doll cradle and held it close. The collection even came with a toy bottle and dippers for her to play mommy better.  
"Rose, what do you think?" Ariadne asked as she couldn't contain her excitement at seeing Rose's face.

"She's beautiful, Mamma!" Rose cried happily.

~ It was a very happy Christmas as the little girl was rabidly opening her smaller presents and her cheeks became so pink, her mother worried she would get sick again. She got candy and wooden blocks. Also much needed socks and underthings which made her slightly cranky.

Rose's spirits weren't dampened for long, however. She was quick to put her new baby doll in the basket of the green tricycle, and start to expertly ride around the living room; now cluttered with the debris of Christmas morning.

"Santa left presents for you to." Arthur told her. Nodding at the tree.

Ariadne felt her face prickle into a smile. She hadn't received a Christmas present since she was a child.

There were three of them under the tree with her name on it. Ariadne carefully started to unwrap them. Hating to tear away the lovely paper. It was such a sin to waste the paper.  
"Rose, I want you to roll up all this nice wrapping paper and we can use it again next year." she called as Rose clearly wasn't listening. The radio playing happy Christmas tunes as Ariadne pulled out a lovely blue dress and matching bell hat with a white ribbon.  
"You needed something pretty for yourself." Arthur told her. "The rest is clothes to. All you have is work dresses."

"Arthur." she sighed.

"You don't like it?" he asked.  
"No, I love it." she said and held it up to her body.  
"Mamma, your dress is pretty." Rose called out.

"Thank you, Rose." Ariadne told her. "Arthur, I got you something to." she said and found a package with his name on it.  
"I don't want you wasting your money on me." he laughed.

"Wait till you see it. Then you can lecture me." she told him.

Arthur unwrapped the bright packaging and scowled at the book.  
"American Law 1800-1930, Vol 1?" he said with a scowl.  
"I know you might know some of this already, but the door to door salesman said it's the reference book of choice for law students a lawyers. I was saving like you're mom did. I'm going to buy you a book a month till you have the set." she said proudly.

Arthur was stunned as he examined the rich edition. The book filled with legal precedence and case studies.  
"Ariadne." he said with a smile.  
"Do you like it?" she asked worriedly.  
"I love it." he told her.

~ Dinner was wonderful. Cobb and his wife Mal had invited them to join them for Christmas dinner and their home, and Ariadne got the chance to wear her new blue dress and bell hat. The children played after dinner, the women gossiped in the kitchen, and Cobb and Arthur talked shop in the parlor.

~ "No one has heard from Eames in a few days. He's not at his old club." Cobb told him.

"He'll turn up. Bad pennies always do." Arthur said.  
"You know, chief keeps asking me about that night. Wanting me to say I didn't know where you went off to after the party." Cobb said.  
"What do you say?" Arthur asked.

"I keep telling him you took Rose home with you. Because that's what happened." Cobb said knowingly.

"Good."

"You want to know the rumors about Eames?" Cobb said.  
"Hit me." Arthur laughed. Nothing could bring him down today, not even Mr. Eames.  
"Word is, he's been bragging about killing Ronnie the Rat and a local drunk who owed him money. It seems he sold his place for cash and beat it the hell out of town. That Fanny girl, remember her? He paid her a visit and left her with about 20 grand. She took off for Florida the next day. Left her whole family behind. Even the little ones." Cobb explained.

Arthur scowled.  
"He gave Fanny all that money?" he asked.

"In cash. Probably for services rendered." Cobb laughed.

Arthur nodded. Wondering if Eames had paid Ariadne a visit as well.

*** Steamboat Willie. Micky Mouse**

** I am exhausted after putting up two or more chapters a day for over a week now. I wanted it to be on time for Christmas, but now I'm just worn out. So, I may take a break for a few days. **

** I hope everyone has a happy and safe Holiday. ~ Leah**


	26. Chapter 26

26.

~ "Rose, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?" Ariadne asked the next morning as Rose was peddling her new green tricycle around the living room. The little girl anxious for the snow to go away so they could go to the park and she would be free to ride.

"I guess." Rose said as she rode down the hall, into Arthur's bedroom and back out again.  
"Rose, you had the best Christmas ever. What did you not get?" Ariadne laughed.  
"I don't know." Rose said sadly.

"Why don't you want to tell me?" Ariadne asked as her daughter wheeled her bike into the kitchen and crashed into the table.

She looked grumpily up at Ariadne and, for a second, reminded her mother of Bill.

"Are you going to marry him? Officer Darling?" she asked.

Ariadne realized her mouth had fallen open from shock. She knelt down and picked up a pot holder that had fallen down from the table when Rose crashed into it.  
"What ideas you have." was all she said.  
"I want Officer Darling to be my daddy." Rose complained.

"You have a daddy." Ariadne snapped.  
"No I don't!" Rose cried petulantly.  
"Rose, Officer Darling is just helping us right now. He's a very nice man, but he doesn't want a wife and kid. You know it's always been just us." Ariadne told her daughter.  
"No!" Rose shouted.

"Rose."

"My name is Rosie! My name is _Rosie Darling_!" the child screamed.

"Your name is Rose Shannon!" Ariadne said harshly.  
"No!"

"Rose, stop it!" Ariadne said as the little girl ran her tricycle into the table again and glared at her mother.

"No! My name is Rosie Darling! My name is Rosie Darling! My name is Rosie Darling!"

~ Ariadne had never had to spank her daughter before. Rose had always been able to roll with the waves, never complaining about how hard their lives were. She never made trouble for her mother, so Ariadne wasn't sure how to handle such a thing.

In the end, she resorted to what she was taught by her own parents. That was to pull the child off the trike, haul her into the bedroom and spank her. Rose crying and trying to protect her bottom from each blow.

"You lay on the bed until your ready to behave!" Ariadne cried at her as Rose sobbed.

She never had to punish the child before in anyway. Rose had always been such a good girl.

Ariadne was in such a rage as she picked up all of Rose's toys off the floor; when the girl was still crying and screaming in the back bedroom, she only stopped when she was threatened with what Arthur would say when he got home.

~ Bill had never shared in the child rearing process so it was a relief when Arthur came home. She knew he had no designs to be a father to Rose, or any other child, but he seemed willing to listen.  
"What happened?" he asked when he saw how upset Ariadne was, and how unusually quite the apartment had become. No music, no toys scattered about. No happy faces, glad to see him home.

"I don't know what happened. Rose just started acting up." Ariadne explained as she busied herself in the kitchen.

"What did she do?" Arthur asked.  
"Defying me. She was ramming that tricycle into the table and throwing a tantrum. I pulled her into the bedroom and gave her a spanking. She was still screaming and crying. She only stopped when I told her you would punish her." she explained.  
Arthur nodded.  
"I know she's not yours and you have no responsibility to her or me. But she looks up to you and she respects you." Ariadne explained as she knew Arthur might not like being cast in the role of overbearing father.

Arthur only nodded.  
"I've never had to spank her before. I don't know what's gotten into her. She doesn't know about Bill, or about... anything." she sighed.  
"I'll go talk to her." Arthur said.

~ Arthur had been punished plenty of times when he was a boy, and Ariadne's worries over a spanking seemed comical compared to the whippings he and his brother received at the hands of both their parents.

He saw Rose was laid out on the bed, not really asleep, but lying very still from exhaustion.  
"Rosie?" he said as he sat on the bed next to her.

The little girl lifter her head up, saw it was him and wearily climbed into his lap.  
"I had a bad day." she whispered.  
"I know." Arthur said soothingly as her thin arms reached around his neck and she hugged him.

Her little body was warm and reassuring. Arthur felt the intense trust this child had in him. The fierce need to keep that trust and protect her.  
"I was mean to mamma." she whispered.  
"Your mamma's gonna fine, Rosie." Arthur whispered.

"She's mad at me."

"No she's not."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, of course not. We all have bad days."

Rose sniffed and wiped her nose on Arthur's shirt.

"Why were you so mad today, Rosie?" he asked.

"Because I don't want to be Rose Shannon anymore." she whispered.  
"What do you want to be?" he asked.  
"I want to be Rosie Darling. But mamma says you're not my daddy and I'm Rose Shannon forever."

"I see." Arthur said.  
"I don't want my old daddy to come back. I don't like him. He made mamma cry. She always smiles when she's with you. Why can't you be my daddy?" Rose concluded logically.

Arthur said nothing. What Mayer had told him still haunting his mind.  
"Rosie, I want you to go apologize to you mother and wash up for dinner." he said at last.

He put Rose back down and she straitened her little dress and gave him a sorrowful look before leaving.

Arthur was left alone in Ariadne and Rose's bedroom. He never went into their room. The place cluttered with dolls, stocking hung to dry and all things too girlish. It also felt like an invasion of privacy to even step into the room that was set aside for them.

So it was odd to him, as he listen to Rose talk to Ariadne in the kitchen, to quickly look under the bed, and closet. He wasn't sure exactly what it was he was looking for, he would know it when he saw it.

When his eyes fell on the leather suitcase in the corner of the closet, he knew exactly what it was and where it had come from.

Ariadne would never have bought a leather suitcase for herself. Never have wasted that much money when a pillow slip would do.

The voices of his girls were still in the kitchen when he pulled out the suitcase and opened it.

The shock of bills greeted him. The heft of the bag told him it was in the tens of thousands of dollars as he felt his heart race.

Eames had given her this bag. Had given her this money. This was far more money than he had given Fanny. What had Ariadne done to deserve this cash payout?

He was breathing hard and didn't even hear Ariadne come into the bedroom.

"I don't know what you said to her, Arthur, but thank you. I can't-" she stopped dead in her tracks as he held the bag of cash out for her to see.

**I hope everyone had a great holiday. I spent mine with my family and we were at my husband's family farm for most of the day. I'm not at all used to the cold. It's 30 degrees out right now, and I'm scared! LOL. Funny thing: we used the video function on my iPad while opening presents. I never knew just how horrible my south Texas accent was! I mean, it's like Cletus the slack jawed yokel! I need to work on that. LOL. **


	27. Chapter 27

27.

~ "What are you doing with that?" she asked. "You're going through my things?"  
"Where did you get this?" he asked instead. "Who gave it to you?"  
"None of your business!" she snapped and made to grab the leather bag; his long arms easily kepping it away from her.  
"You rob a bank or something?" he asked.  
"Oh yes, they call my the pint size bandit!" Ariadne said hatefully.

"Tell me where this came from! Arthur growled, his temper rising.

Ariadne started stonily back at him.  
"Mr. Eames came to the apartment, the morning after... that night. He... he said he was leaving town and going to California. He gave me this and said he wanted me to have it for myself and Rose. No strings attached." she explained as Arthur finally let her take her bag.

He let out a humorless laugh.

"No strings attached? Money always has strings attached to it." he told her. "What did he want in return?"  
"It's not like that. He gave me the money and told me to take care of myself and Rose with it." she said defensively.

"_I_ take care of you and Rose. Not Eames." he growled at her. "I've taken care of the both of you from the start."

"I know that!" Ariadne cried.

"And what did you do for him?" he asked. "That's a lot of money to just give to someone."

She looked back at him with anger like he had never seen before.

Arthur felt his own anger well up inside him at her. He could just imagine what was happening in the apartment while he was away at work. How often did Eames just 'stop by?'

"Because I'm gone all day. Was Eames ever here? Playing house with you?" he accused.

"No, of course not." she said. Her eyes blinking back tears.  
"How do I know that?"  
"Because when I was working in the kitchens, he asked me to be with him all the time. Offering to pay me if I would. I said no each time." she told him.

"Then why did he give you all this?" Arthur barked.

"I don't know why!"  
"No, you know why!"  
"It's not your business. Rose and I are _not _your business. You're not my husband, you're not her father. We're not you responsibility! You don't have to worry about us!" She shouted.  
"I took you in." Arthur said in disbelief. "I moved for you, I took care of your girl like she was my own. I shot a man because he was going to hurt you. How can you say you and Rose are not my business?"

He had never felt so hurt in his life as Ariadne seemed to have betrayed him.  
"You took Eames' money when you don't need it." he said.  
"I do need it." she hissed. "I have to take care of my daughter. This arrangement we have is not the same as a family. You said so yourself when we were together that night. You told me that you didn't want me to get pregnant." she said.  
"Because we're not married." he insisted.

"I told you I wouldn't sleep with you to pay our way, and I meant it." she told him. "It was a mistake to be with you in the first place."

"Don't say that." he told her. His voice going soft as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. "It was many things, but it wasn't a mistake. I just can't have an illegitimate baby jeopardize my promotion."

He knew right away he had said the wrong thing. That look Ariadne had given him was filled with such anger, he wished he could take it back.  
"Well, don't worry, there's no baby." she told him as she put the leather suitcase in the closet.

Arthur tried not to show his relief.  
"We just have to be more careful next time. Take the right precautions." he told her.  
"There isn't going to be a next time." she whispered. "I told you I'm not sleeping with you to pay my way."

"Ariadne." he said as she turned to leave him. "Rose told me she wants me to be her daddy." he admitted.

Ariadne stopped and turned back to him.  
"Rose wants a lot of things." she whispered. "In a few months, she'll forget all about you. In a few months, she'll want something else completely."

"You're leaving me?" he asked.

She stiffened and refused to look at him.

~ Dinner was a cold affair. Rose sensed that something was wrong and she stayed quite as the adults in her company refused to talk to each other.

"Rose, I think the snow my stop by Thursday. It will be my day off. Maybe we can take your bike to the park if you want." Arthur said as soon as he finished eating, and Ariadne cleared the dishes.  
Rose looked down at her fork and didn't respond.  
"I guess so." Rose said sulkily.

She looked at her mother. The child sensing the tension in the room.

"We can make a day of it." Arthur said to both of them. "The first warm day, the three of us go out to the park and have some fun. Maybe go out to eat." he promised.

"Sounds good." Ariadne said as she started washing the dishes. She didn't look at Arthur and Rose. "I'm tired of the tire tracks all over the floor."

~ "Mamma, I'm sorry I was bad today." Rose said as Ariadne tucked her in. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, honey." Ariadne told her as she secured her blankets better. "I'm not mad at you at all."

"Are you mad at officer Darling?" Rose asked.

Ariadne let out a long sigh instead of answering.  
"Because he loves us, Mamma." Rose insisted.  
"Officer Darling doesn't love us." Ariadne told her. "He's just helping us. When I get a job, we're going to move out and we'll be on our own again."

"Why can't we live with officer Darling?"  
"Because he's not family, Rose."  
Rose looked like she was going to start sulking again and, when Ariadne went to kiss her good night, she rolled away from her.

~ "Little one down for the night?" Arthur asked as Ariadne came back out of their bedroom and they were alone.

"Yeah, it's been a long day." she said as she pretended to keep busy in the kitchen.

She felt Arthur come up behind her. His large hands slipping around her waist and his warm breath on her neck. Her back slightly arched at the contact.

"I don't want to fight about the money anymore." Arthur whispered to her.

"I don't either." she said.  
"We need to figure out what we're going to do with it." he said sadly.

"Eames said I could keep it."

"Ariadne, it's probably stolen. What's going to happen when whoever he took it from comes looking for it?" Arthur asked.

"I was thinking I would use it to move us out. You've been really good to us, but we can't keep relying on your charity, Arthur." she explained.

Arthur was silent for a moment.  
"I don't want you and Rosie to move out." he said at last. She felt his lips on her neck and shivered.

"We're not your problem, Arthur. We can afford to leave and be on our own now." she explained as she allowed him to pull her closer.

"With Eames' money. You'll take his money over living with me?" he asked as his hands pulled off the bow of her apron sting.

"It was never like that with Eames." she told him.

"I might starve to death if you leave." he whispered in her ear.

She rolled her eyes and didn't fight the smile that came to her face as his hands were loosening the apron form her waist.  
"I think you're right about that." she agreed. Remembering his food and house keeping situation before she arrived.

"I like being taken care of. I've been getting fatter and fatter everyday since you and Rosie came." he admitted.

She couldn't help but giggle as his breath tickled her ear.

"I can let your pants out if you want." she said. She had plenty of sewing supplies she had found in the old sewing table.  
"Exactly what I was thinking." Arthur breathed as he held her closer.  
"I didn't mean it like that." Ariadne said feeling her face flush at the double entendre.

"I don't want to fight about the money and I don't want you and Rosie to leave. I want you to come to bed with me." he insisted.  
"Arthur."

"We'll take the proper precautions." he assured her.

She felt that same moment of weakness rush over her as she turned to face him. No sooner had she met his eyes than he was kissing her. His hunger for her obvious as his hands roamed down her dress and cupped her bottom.

"I'm sorry we fought. We'll work out what to do with the money in the morning." he promised.

"Arthur." she mewed as he lifted her up like she were nothing.

She gave a worried look to Rose's door and allowed him to carry her to bed with him.


	28. Chapter 28

28.

~ This is the service pistol the department issued me." Arthur explained after they ate breakfast and Rose was playing in her room.  
"Arthur, I don't know how to use a gun." Ariadne said worriedly. She tucked her hands into her lap as she watched him with this dangerous thing in their home.

He ignored her as he showed her how to load and unload the barrel.

"I'll be taking my dad's service pistol into the office with me from now on." he told her. "You use this one; it's not so heavy and it's easier to hold and use."

Ariadne didn't even touch it.  
"Now, it's a _very_ safe gun." he said pulling the trigger and showing nothing happening. "It won't fire until you pull back the hammer, like this." he said and she heard the mechanical clicking as the barrel lined up.

Arthur pulled the trigger and there was an empty, hollow _clack_ as the trigger made contact with no bullets.

"Now you." he said and handed her the gun.

She took it, looked it over, aimed it at one of Rose's dolls on the table and tired to squeeze the trigger. It refused to move.

"Now, pull back the hammer." Arthur instructed.

She looked at the weapon, shakily pulled back the hammer, and aimed again. It gave a satisfactory _clack_ as the trigger made contact with the barrel.

"Now load it." He ordered and she carefully put the bullets in place, one by one.  
"If someone comes to the apartment, I want you to hide Rose in the closet, call the police and get the gun ready." he told her. "Hide behind the sofa or something and kneel down. Aim for the belt buckle." he said.  
"What if he has a gun to?" Ariadne asked.

"All the more reason to hide behind the sofa. Provide cover." he told her.

"Won't you get into trouble for letting me use your police gun?" she asked.

"No." he assured her.

~ Last night, they agreed it was too dangerous to have so much money in the house. Arthur decided they should put in a bank.

"Arthur, Bill and I had money in the bank and when the run happened, we lost everything." she whispered as laid her head lazily on his chest.  
"Safety deposit box then." he reasoned. "If the bank goes under, we can still keep the cash."

She had agreed and relaxed in his arms. It was odd being with him again. The precautions he had taken were not what she had expected at all. She had only been with her husband before Arthur; they never bothered, or even knew about the strange, rubbery sleeve Arthur had used.

It was awkward and embarrassing when he had to put it on and explain to her what it would do. Her cheeks flaming up that he had purchased such a thing. Assuring her there would be no baby because of it, and it wouldn't hurt her.

It had been a decidedly different experience because of it. Not at all the heated, forbidden passion they had shared before.

But it was still good. Much better than relations with Bill had ever been.

"You think someone will come for that money?" she whispered in the darkness.

"I do." he told her. "Who knows what Eames was into."

She let out a long sigh.

"What are we going to do about Rosie?" he asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what she's wanting. For us... for use to be a family." he explained.

Ariadne pulled away from him. Her hands searching for the dress she cast off so eagerly only hours before.

"Lets not rush into anything, Arthur." she said darkly. Pulling her dress over her naked body.

"Why not? Why not just get married? We're living together. Things are working out well." he reasoned.

She didn't even look at him as she buttoned up her dress.  
"Are you proposing, Arthur?" she asked.

"Well, it just makes sense." he told her.  
"Arthur." she said standing up and turning around. "Do we even love each other? Have we even told each other 'I love you'? Now you want us to get married?"

"Where are you going?" he asked as she opened his bedroom door.

"Back to bed." she told him. Leaving him alone for the night.

~ Arthur couldn't get what had happened last night out of his mind. He was never good with the fairer sex. He was always saying the wrong things. With Ariadne, it was more so because she was always mad at him. He had thought she would be over joyed at the idea of getting married. He was a good man, he took care of them, she was no longer married. Why wouldn't she marry him?

"Darling, I want you to meet Agent William Ross. He works for J. Edger and the boys in Washington." Mayer said as soon as Arthur came into the station.

"Oh." Arthur said. "Pleased to meet you."

William Ross was a small, bookish man with thick coke bottle glasses who clutched his briefcase close to his body like a shield.  
"Agent Ross here studies ballistics." Mayer said knowingly.

Arthur nodded, not understanding.  
"Detective Darling, we need you to come to the firing range for a moment and help us with a little experiment." Agent Ross said.

Arthur still didn't know where this was leading, but he didn't argue.

"Alright." he said worriedly.  
"Did you bring your gun, Darling?" the chief asked.  
"Yes." Arthur said.

"Good." Mayer said with a lazy smile.

~ "Ballistics, is the study of the markings and behaviors of bullets and firearms." Agent Ross explained in his fussy, bookish way. The agent had a very effeminate quality about him that made Arthur think he was closer to an old woman than a man.

"I can't say I follow." Arthur admitted as they stood in the police department's firing range. For the first time ever, Arthur noticed it was free of cops practicing. The basement range absent of life and gunfire. He saw a sickly looking hunk of beef hanging from a chain at the end of the firing line. No doubt it would be used for target practice.

"Look here." Agent Ross said and pointed to a microscope. "You see the two different bullets?"

Arthur hesitantly looked into the scope, seeing the familiar sights of two identical 9mm bullets.  
"Same." Arthur said automatically.

"Are you sure?" Agent Ross asked with a little smile.

Arthur looked closer. Then he looked again. Although they were the same caliber, there were markings ripped along the sides; each one different.  
"I shot those into a tank of water, to preserve the shape. Same bullets, same manufacturer. I used two different guns to do it. That's what caused the different stress marks on them. When the bullet left the barrel, with the velocity and the heat of the discharge, they became _branded_ you see." Ross explained.  
"I see them now." Arthur said and he wondered how he had ever thought they were the same.  
"Yes, ballistics will change how we fight crime. Just like finger printing." Ross said happily. "It can tell us with absolute certainty that a certain bullet, came from a specific gun."

"Darling, I need you to shoot at the carcass at the end of the firing range." the chief said gruffly.

"Sir?" Arthur asked straitening up.  
"You have you side arm? The 38 special the department issued to you?" the chief asked.  
"I have a department issued side arm, yes sir." Arthur told him. His hand going to his father's 38 special. The heaviness of it felt to cumbersome.

"I need you to fire a round into the meat carcass, Darling." The chief ordered.

Arthur knew then, what he wanted. He wanted to compare the bullets pulled out of the Rat's body and see if they did come from Arthur's hand gun. A gun that was currently hidden in Ariadne's sock drawer.

"Certainly." Arthur said and pulled out his father's 38. He wasn't used to the weight. Wasn't used to the sight being a little off. It too three tries to hit the rotting beef carcass that was hanging by the chain.

"Christ, Darling!" the chief grumbled. "Broad side of the barn much?"

"I guess I need to practice, chief." Arthur laughed as they pulled the ropes to bring the carcass in to be examined.

Agent Ross was quick to exhume the bullet and look it over. Arthur watched, feeling calm and easy as the fussy little man washed the bullet, and slid it under the scope.

He made notes, looked from one eye hole to the other. Made another note.  
"Chief Mayer?" Agent Ross said.  
"Yes?" chief said expectantly. His eyes lighting up happily.  
"I can say with 100% accuracy that this was _not_ the gun that failed your victim." Ross told him.

The chief looked disappointed and Arthur played dumb.

"_Victim_? What victim?" he asked "What are you talking about?"

"The slug we pulled out of the Rat. I called Agent Ross in here to see if it matched your side arm." the chief growled.

"I told you, I had nothing to do with that." Arthur said. He was feeling confident as the chief's house of cards was starting to collapse.

"Are you sure, Agent Ross? There is not chance you misread it?" the chief said grumpily.

"None, sir." Agent Ross said looking offended. "I have personally examined thousands of samples. I've given testimony to the courts that have sent killers to prison."

The fussy little man stood aside and waved at his microscope.

"Have look for yourself." he offered.

The chief growled and peered into the microscope.  
"I can't see a damn difference!" he barked.  
"That will be quite enough, chief Mayer. I know my business. Forensic and science is the future of law enforcement. You cowboys with your guns will soon be obsolete." Ross said in a huffy way that made Arthur thing of a bird puffing up to make itself look bigger to an enemy.

The chief was still grumbling as Arthur put his father's too heavy gun back in the holster.

"Don't worry, chief, we'll get the guy. In the meantime, I'll practice my shooting. I rarely get to fire my gun on the job anymore." Arthur explained lazily to Agent Ross.

The chief cast Arthur and angry look, and stormed out of the firing range.

"Can I have a look?" Arthur asked as he pointed to the microscopes.  
"Oh, certainly, young man." Agent Ross said in a grandmotherly like way. "I must say, your superior was not at all pleased with the results. He told me you were under some suspicion in the death of a local rum runner."

"Well, in our line of work, we have to be suspicious of everything." Arthur explained. "Don't be so hard on him. We don't have the luxury of giving someone the benefit of the doubt."

"Guilty until proven innocent?" Ross asked as Arthur looked at the two shockingly different bullets under the microscope.


	29. Chapter 29

29.

~ "Agent Ross is a very interesting man." Arthur explained to Ariadne the first warm day of January as they followed Rose along a quite path in the park.

Rose was peddling her green tricycle up the little path and singing to herself. She had spent a very productive day gathering all sorts of treasures in the park. Interesting rocks and sticks; putting all of them in her red wagon to take home for later study.

Her mother had the job of pulling the wagon as they followed the fearless explorer and naturalist all over the park.

Ariadne hoping she would work out enough energy to want a nap when they got home.

Arthur had made sure to take them out of the way of Hoover-ville and it's residents. There had been growing rioting and other shady goings on in the park that winter. New York City was becoming a dangerous place as people became more and more desperate.

It seemed all the truly desperate of the depression were being washed up in the park. In little shacks they built, that the city demanded be torn down with every raid.

"So the chief wanted to prove it was your gun that shot that man?" Ariadne asked quietly.  
"Yeah. Good thing I left it at home." Arthur sighed.  
"That man was trying to hurt me." Ariadne whispered as Rose peddled ahead of them on the path. "If you just tell the chief what happened-"

"Then all sorts of questions come out about Eames and why I was with him. Why I didn't report it and then it will only be a matter of time before the money is discovered." Arthur snapped.

They kept walking.  
"You know, Agent Ross says that there might be a position for me in the Hoover's agency in Washington." he explained. "He said the ballistics department is growing and they need more agents."

"You're going to move to Washington?" she asked in disbelief.  
"I was thinking we could move to Washington." he told her. "After we get married, everything will be nice and legal."

"Arthur," she sighed. "we've talked about this before."

"We talked. Nothing came of it." Arthur corrected her.

"Arthur, you've been enormously kind to us, but I'm not ready to just leap back into married life." she explained.

"What about Rose?" Arthur nodded to the chirping little girl who tried to run down a squirrel with her bike. The squirrel was too quick for her and leaped to a tree, only to turn around and torment her from the branches above.

"Rose is _my_ daughter." Ariadne insisted. "She's my responsibility."  
"She needs a father. She wants one."

"Yes, and when I decide to remarry, she'll have one. I'm not going to marry anyone because it's necessary for my survival. This is the 20th century." Ariadne snapped.

Arthur looked angry as they followed the girl up the walking path.

"Is it because I didn't give you a ring? Are you mad about that?" Arthur asked somberly.  
"No."

"Because I never saw the need for an engagement ring." he explained.  
"It's not that, Arthur." she told him.

"I don't want to lose you and Rose. If we're married, I could take care of the both of you. I could be your husband and a father to the girl. You wouldn't have to worry about paying the rent or other bills. We wouldn't have to worry about a scandal." he explained again.  
"It's not enough of a reason to marry someone." she told him.  
"Are you worried I would beat you? I'm not that kind of a man." he told her.  
"I know that." she told him.

"Darling?" came a man's voice and Ariadne turned around to see two uniformed police men. Arthur also turned and rolled his eyes in irritation.  
"Hey, you... guys." he said searching his memory for their names and not finding them.  
"Long time no see, Darling. We heard you're a detective now. How you been?" one of the beefy cops asked.  
"Good." Arthur said standing beside Ariadne as Rose rode down the path alone.

She was waiting for Arthur to introduce her to the two policemen he obviously knew. But the three men just made small talk about chasing bums out of Hoover-ville.

"Arthur, I'm going to go check on Rose." Ariadne told them and walked away.  
"Darling, I never knew you were married. Nice looking family." one of the cops said.  
"Thank you." Arthur said clumsily trying to remember the man's name. He hadn't been a beat cop in five years. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"We heard about the raid on Mr. Eames' place. Those son-of-a-bitch-lawyers. Always getting these scum bags off." on of the cops said as the beefy one eyed Ariadne walking away.

"Yeah, these drunks say he never left New York at all. His lawyer has him held up in the tunnels that connect the speakeasy's. Living under the radar, hiding from the emperor and his men ." the beefy cop said.  
"Who told you that?" Arthur asked.

"Just the drunks." the cop said.  
"Did you tell chief Mayer this?" Arthur asked.

"No, it's just talk. Besides, who cares? Men like that get what's coming to them." the cops laughed. "Let these scum bags take each other out. Makes our jobs much easier."

~ Ariadne ran up the path to find Rose talking to a well dressed man in a handsome black winter coat. Complete with fur on the collar.  
"I think you lost something." the gentleman said in careful English.  
Ariadne looked from Rose to the gentleman and only belatedly realized that he was Asian.  
"I'm sorry if she bothered you, um Mr?" she asked.  
"Saito. Please, call me Mr. Saito." The well dressed man said taking off his bowler style hat and making a deep bow to her.

"Oh." Ariadne said and didn't know how to respond. The culture of the city was so diverse, she would never get used to so many different people from all over the world.  
"It is not a bother at all to see a happy family such as yours." he said.

Ariadne noticed Rose had gotten away from her again and excused herself to go chase after her.

~ "I thought you had the day off, Arthur." Ariadne fumed as they came home. Rose was exhausted as Arthur hauled her bike up the stairs and Ariadne carrying her wagon after. Rose insisting that all her rocks and twigs had intense value and could not be thrown away.

"Those cops in the park told me rumors about Mr. Eames. They say he's still hiding out in the city." Arthur explained as he put Rose's green tricycle down and the little girl raced to her dolls.  
"You really think he's still here?" Ariadne asked. "He seemed like he was leaving on the next train out of New York."  
"I don't know. It may be just talk. Either way, I need to find Eames. He's the only other person who knows what really happened the night of the party and we can't have him as a lose end." Arthur explained.

"When will you be back?" she asked him as he took out his father's 38 and slid it into the leather holster.  
"Late, don't wait up." he said without looking back at her.  
~ "Mamma, I want to go back tot he park!" Rose insisted as Ariadne served dinner.

"I know, Rose. We can tomorrow." her mother said.

"With Daddy again?" Rose asked in a surgery sweet voice.

Ariadne slammed down a pan on the stove.

"Rose, he is not you're daddy." she said.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

"I want to go school to." Rose demanded.  
"You're not old enough yet, Rose." Ariadne told her as she turned off the burners to the stove.  
"I want to go to school as Rosie Darling, _not_ Rose Shannon."

"Rose, we talked about this already."  
"No!"

"Rose, stop it! Arthur is not your daddy!"

"Yes he is!" Rose screamed and Ariadne jumped as there was a sharp knock on the door.

She put her hand to her heart as she was sure it was one of the neighbors growing upset at the noise of Rose's shouting.

Rose was still looking murderously at her mother. Her arms still crossed, and her dinner untouched.  
"Who is it?" Ariadne called to the closed and bolted front door. It was already past 6 in the evening. Who would come to her door right now? Not the door to door sales man or the milk man.  
"My name is Robert Fischer, Mrs. Shannon. I'm a lawyer on behalf of Mr. Eames." came the disembodied voice from behind the front door.

She was sorely tempted to open it, but hesitated. She didn't want to invoke Arthur's wrath by going against his precise instructions about strangers.

"What is it you want?" she asked through the door instead.

"Mrs. Shannon, there has been an accident. Your friend, detective Darling and Mr. Eames were involved. I need to speak with you." the voice said.

She had to stand on tip-toe as she looked out the peep hole.

Just outside was a well dressed young man. She couldn't see anyone else from the narrow view point.  
"What kind of accident?" she questions as she wondered if she should get Arthur's gun.

"May I come in? I don't want the neighbors to hear this." he said.

She looked him over more carefully. He was handsome and well dressed. His manners were calm and collected. He almost looked bored standing there.

"Alright." Ariadne sighed as she turned the deadbolt and opened the door.

**I'm sorry I worried some of you by being absent for the past few days. I've had horrible bout of writer's block and I've had to throw out and re-write several chapters.**

** I really appreciate all the P.M.s making sure I was alright. I know I have a habit of updating everyday and when I don't, it's cause for alarm. **


	30. Chapter 30

30.

~ "According to the drunks, Mr. Eames has been hiding out in the underground tunnels that snake under the city." Cobb explained as the two of them looked over old maps.  
"Well, we've seen them using secret passages all over the city. Some of them connecting to the docks, some to the finest hotels in Manhattan." Arthur grumbled as he crossed over known speakeasy's with a red tipped pencil.

"You really think Mr. Eames is still in the city? Hiding out?" Cobb asked.  
"I don't know." Arthur sighed. He was already exhausted and cold. The winter chill was coming back in full force as soon as the sun went down.

He and Cobb had been searching every known tunnel they had ever found in the last ten years of raids. Most of them were merely walled up back rooms that were used as storage, or a place to hid or escape during a raid. The patrons spilling out of secret back entrances like rats escaping a sinking ship. Some one could live down there, the new underground train systems were a maze that made it easier to transport things and hide in.

Arthur could even hear the rumbling of a train car through one of the basement walls it was so close.

So far, they turned up rooms once filled with booze and rowdy party goers, but no Mr. Eames.

"Why wouldn't he just hop a train out of town?" Cobb asked.  
"Maybe the emperor and his boys wouldn't let him. He might be laying low because of it." Arthur reasoned.

"Well, we're not getting anywhere tonight, Darling. Maybe those two cops from the park were misinformed." Cobb sighed as he started the engine of their car. "It's almost midnight and no one is willing to talk to us. We can go to the drunk tanks and see if there are any talkers."

"No. We should call it a night." Arthur said. "I don't care what kind of trouble Mr. Eames is in anymore. The boys in the park were right, let the emperor deal with it."

No sooner had Cobb started the car, then the two way radio crackled and buzzed loudly.  
"Detectives Darling and Cobb. Come back." Mavis called. "Come back Cobb and Darling."

Arthur would never get used to the loud, obnoxious two way radio that had been forced upon them by the city. It was a time saver, like the telephone, but it was intrusive and too loud. What was so wrong with using the police call boxes that used to be on every corner?  
"This is Darling." Arthur said into the mic. The static of the transmission was painful as Cobb drove out of the crowded street.

"Darling, we just got a call from one of your neighbors. You need to go home now. Something about your daughter being left alone, crying someone took her mother." Mavis said over the radio waves.

~ Ariadne would never leave Rose by herself. Nothing was more important to her than her daughter.

Arthur knew something was very wrong when he saw the onlookers of neighbors standing outside their doors as he and Cobb went up to the top floor.  
"Show's over, folks. Go back inside." Cobb growled as the families were keen on seeing all the police activity.  
"Rosie?" Arthur called out as they reached the apartment. The front door standing wide open and two uniformed police men were there.

Rose was seated on the lap of the elderly woman across the hall.

Her face stained with tears as the old woman tried to sooth her.

The child caught sight of Arthur and started to sob anew.

"_Daddy_!" she cried in sheer terror as Arthur picked her up.  
"Rosie, it's okay. I'm here now. What happened?" he asked the little girl, now a blubbering mess in his arms.

"Daddy, I cried for you!" Rose screamed and sobbed louder.  
"Detective Darling?" one of the cops said. "Is this your daughter?"

Arthur thought to explain the situation, realized it was too complicated, and only nodded.

"What happened?" Arthur growled as Cobb locked the front door against the nosy neighbors outside.

"It seems you're wife left this child alone." one of the cops said. "She went to the neighbor lady here for help."

"A man came and took _mamma_!" Rose cried as she held onto Arthur's neck in a death grip.  
"It's okay, Rosie; let me go." Arthur whispered in her ear as he was momentarily afraid she might strangle him.  
"No!" she screamed and held him tighter.  
"She says a man came and took her mother." Arthur said and rubbed Rose's back as the little girl cried.

"Detective, there was no sign of forced entry. The door was unlocked from inside. She left the child alone." the officer said.  
"My wife would never leave our daughter alone!" Arthur barked at the two officers.

"Sir, maybe she went out with friends." one of the cops said. "An old boyfriend, maybe?"

"No, she wouldn't have left our daughter alone!" Arthur almost shouted over Rose's cries.

~ "Rosie, tell me what happened." Cobb asked an hour later.

The elderly neighbor had forced Rose to drink a cup full of cooking sherry and the spirits had calmed the little girl down greatly.

"Mamma..." Rose panted. Still excited and upset. "Mamma (hiccup) answered the door. There was a man at the door and (hiccup) and he said daddy... was... was in an accident."

"I won't get in trouble for the cooking sherry right, Detective?" the old woman asked. "I mean, I use it to calm my nerves, alcohol is still permissible if it's medicinal. Right, detective?"

"Ma'am, we're not worried about the cooking sherry right now." Cobb said as Rose hiccuped and tried not to start crying again.  
"Rosie, who was it that came into the apartment?" Cobb asked.

He could hear Arthur arguing with the two police officers in the next room. They didn't believe this was anything more than a woman running off with an old boyfriend. A purely domestic problem; she would be home by the end of the night.

"I don't know." Rose said and hiccuped loudly.  
"You never saw him before?" Cobb asked.

"No." she said miserably.

"What did he look like?" Cobb asked.  
"He had a really nice suit on. He (hiccup) he was skinny and his hair was shinny and he smelled like a department (hiccup) department store." Rose said.

"Did he see you?" Cobb asked.

Rose shook her head.  
"I was in the kitchen, and mamma talked (hiccup) talked to the man behind the door. He said Daddy and another man were in an (hiccup) an accident." Rose explained.

"Then what happened?" Cobb asked.  
"(hiccup) Mamma opened the door and the man talked at her really bad, and (hiccup) and he grabbed her by the arm. He (hiccuped) told her to come with him. She tried to get away, (hiccup) but he pulled her out of the door." Rose said.

"What did you do, Rosie?" Cobb asked.  
"I hid under the table for a long time (hiccup) waiting for mamma to come back. When it got dark I (hiccup) I went across the hall."

"That's when I called the police. I knew something wasn't right. I never saw the girl without the mother, you know." the older woman said.  
~ "She didn't leave me!" Arthur was shouting to the two cops in the bedroom. "Her clothes are still here, and she didn't even put a coat on! It's freezing outside! Not to mention our daughter was left here alone!"

"Sir, do you have a picture of your wife?" on of the beat cops asked in exasperation. "One we can show around?"

Arthur looked about the room.  
"We just moved less than a month ago." he explained.  
"No pictures of your wife?" one of the cops said looking at the carefully arranged photographs on the wall of Arthur's family. It was painfully obvious now there were no framed pictures of Ariadne or Rose.  
"Not even of your wedding day?" the other beat cop asked.  
"Look, she's five feet tall, very petite. She had brown hair and brown eyes." Arthur explained.  
"That narrows it down." one of the beat cops grumbled. Arthur shot him an angry look.  
"Detective Darling, you know what's going to happen. Your missus will probably come home and you two will make up." the other cop said.  
"Fine. I'll be speaking with your Sargent in the morning." Arthur growled.  
"Yeah, we live in fear of the rum chasers." the other beat cop laughed. "Give us a call if your wife isn't home by dinner tomorrow night."

~ "Did that neighbor lady gave you some of her cooking sherry, Rosie?" Arthur asked gently as Rose's cheeks were bright a pink and her she was about to fall asleep.

"I feel dizzy." Rose complained and rested her head on Arthur's shoulder as he carried her to the bed she had shared with her mother.

Everyone had left the apartment after Arthur had punched the beat cop in the jaw and almost got himself arrested. Cobb quick to defuse the situation by saying there was no one left in the house to watch Rose. The neighbor lady had scolded the two police men for not going door to door to look for this child's mother.

"In my day, cops actually _cared_ about the people on the beat. Didn't matter if they were immigrant or local. Rich or poor, they cared and they would round up a group of men to look for a missing woman." the old woman declared.  
"You have any idea how many people have just up and left their families since the crash, lady?" one of the police men said. "The men who didn't throw themselves off the buildings, would walk out on the wife and kids. The woman will turn up."

"Yes, I hope alive!" the older woman snapped and pushed the beat cop out of her way.

~ "Will mamma be back in the morning?" Rose asked as Arthur sat her on the side of the bed and unbuckled her little shoes.  
"I don't know, Rosie." Arthur said sadly. "I hope so."

Rose looked like she was half asleep as Arthur pulled off her little blue dress and helped her to slip on a night dress.  
"For now, we're just going to have to make do with each other." he told her as he found her little hands through the night dress and pulled the sleeves over her arms.  
"What if mamma doesn't come back?" Rose asked. Her cheeks as pink as they were when she had scarlet fever.

"She'll come home, Rosie. She would never leave you." Arthur promised as he covered her up.

Rose was snoring loudly as soon as her head hit the pillow. The day had been too much for her and the cooking sherry calmed her down so much, she had been half asleep for the past hour.

Arthur pulled a little chair next to Rose's bed and watched the child sleeping. Ariadne's look-a-like girl was dead to the world as he sat up and kept watch.

He was too afraid to go to sleep. Too afraid to do anything but keep guard over what Ariadne loved the most in this world.


	31. Chapter 31

31.

~ It was freezing outside and Ariadne had wished she had thought to bring her coat. But Mr. Fischer's surprisingly strong hands and arms removed her from the apartment so quickly, his hissing threats about Arthur being in danger, she forget everything else.

There was also the two large men standing in the hallway to contend with as well. She immediately recognized them as the two beat cops from the park. They they were in plain clothing and looked at her sourly as one of them roughly took hold of her arm.  
"You'll need to come with us, ma'am." he said aggressively and was pulling her down the stairs before she could argue.

Fischer had not seen Rose in the little kitchen. The child keeping quite, sensing something was wrong. Her mother slipping out of the apartment as Fischer told her if she didn't come with him now, Arthur would die.  
~ "I'm sorry to have to do this to you." the well groomed Mr. Fischer was saying as she huddled in the back seat of his elegant town car. The two cops were on either side of her; preventing her escape.

She wondered why she hadn't screamed or cried out, part of her trusting that Arthur was in danger and needed her; another part, berating herself for how stupid she was to leave with these men.

"Where are we going?" Ariadne asked.  
"To the Dakota." Fischer explained. "It's a nice place, you'll like it."

"I want to see Arthur, you said he was hurt." she said feeling nervous as they drove past the park and into the less developed part of the city. Almost all of the booming construction had halted after the crash. Skyscrapers were slowly and painfully finished off with no one able to afford the rent in them.

Ariadne noticed the so called Empire State Building was half completed. It's skeleton of rivets and iron work exposed on the final top half.

The Dakota was indeed an impressive building that looked like it belonged in Paris as opposed to New York. It's elegance was grossly out of place in the half urban, half country of Manhattan.

Ariadne didn't have time to take in the splendor of it, however, as the two beat cops were quick to push her inside.  
"Mr. Fischer." a door man said with a little bow and seemed not to notice of care about Ariadne's plight. "Your father and Mr. Saito are waiting upstairs."

"Saito?" Ariadne repeated as Fischer guided her roughly to the elevators.

She looked at the two beat cops who stepped in with her. It suddenly all made sense, the two cops in the park, Mr. Saito and Arthur leaving when he had the day off.  
"You set this up didn't you?" she accused. "That _chance_ meeting in the park; telling Arthur about Eames; all to get him out of the house so you could grab me. I don't know why, I'm not his wife." she looked at Fischer. "Detective Darling doesn't care about me. You're wasting your time with me."

"It's not detective Darling we care about." Fischer said lazily and didn't bother to look at her.  
"Then what's this about?" she asked.

"You'll see." Fischer said and smoothed out his expertly tailored suit and examined himself in the reflective surfaces of the mirror.

Ariadne had no choice but to follow Fischer down the elegant hallways of the Dakota. She had never been in a building this fancy before, and she wondered what was going to happen. If they were going to kill her or hold her for ransom, wouldn't they have just taken her to a warehouse like Bill had done? Not to a nice apartment building where neighbors could here.

"You two, go fetch Mr. Eames now." Fischer said in that careless attitude of his.  
"What's going on?" Ariadne asked nervously as Fischer let her into an apartment at the end of the hall.

~ The sitting room was beautifully furnished and continued the feel like it had been transported from Europe.  
"Ah, Mrs. Darling." a man said coming behind her.

Ariadne jumped and stepped away as a short, balding man with a bulbous nose and beady eyes glared at her.  
"So sorry to tare you away from home just now." he said. "I'm Maurice Fischer. I see you've already met my son, Robert."

Ariadne shied away from him.  
"He told me Arthur was in danger." Ariadne said as she noticed Robert Fischer had locked the doors behind him.  
"I don't want you to worry about your husband, Mrs. Darling." Maurice said.  
"He's not my husband!" Ariadne snapped.  
Maurice shrugged.  
"Fair enough. Arthur Darling has nothing to do with this situation. I want you know we normally do not bring leverage to these situations, but Mr. Eames has made things difficult for us." Maurice said.  
"Mr. Eames?" Ariadne questioned.  
"Your former employer?" Maurice reminded her. "See, he actually works for out client, Mr. Saito here."

Ariadne hadn't noticed the other man in the sitting room. She instantly recognized him as the same man from the park.  
"Hello, Mrs. Darling." Saito said and gave her a little bow. "You may remember me for earlier today."

"Yes." Ariadne croaked and tried to back away.  
She realized she was breathing hard as the three men were crowded around her.  
"Where are my manners?" Maurice suddenly proclaimed. "Would you like something to eat? Drink maybe?"

"No, I want to go home. I don't know anything about Eames or what he does." Ariadne told them.  
"We know you don't. But with you here with us, it will make Mr. Eames... well... more compliant." Maurice said as he went to a liquor cabinet and opened a wine bottle.

"Arthur will be looking for me. He's a cop." Ariadne said as a means of defense.  
"I know. Fortunately, we have friends on the job who help us out." Maurice said.  
"Makes our work easier." Robert added as he sat down.  
"Look, I don't have any money and I worked in the kitchens of Eames' place. I don't know what he owes you... please just let me go home." Ariadne said.  
"Mr. Eames owes us our share of a handsome profit he turned this year." Saito explained in his careful English.

His manners and style were so gentle and arresting, Ariadne wasn't afraid of him.  
"It is bad business to bite the hand that feeds you." Saito explained.  
"You may as well make yourself comfortable, Mrs. Darling." Maurice explained. "You might be here for a while."

~ Arthur woke up after a horrible nightmare. One of those dreams that felt so real, he had to keep reassuring himself it was just a dream.

His neck hurt and back ached from the awkward sleeping position he had suffered last night. He had fallen to sleep in a little chair by Rose's bed. The child too scared to sleep alone and Arthur didn't want to lose sight of her for a second.

What was he going to do? What if Ariadne never came home? What if she was already in the river with her throat cut open?

What would happen to Rosie?

He knew what would happen to the child. She would stay with him. He would gain custody of her, somehow, and he would look after her. The little girl would not go to an orphanage.

Would they even let him adopt the child that he wasn't related to, and with no wife?

He let out a long sigh as Rose slept soundly. Her cheeks still a lovely pink hue.

Ariadne. He had to find Ariadne. This child still needed her; Arthur still needed her. Some one had taken her, but who?

Eames?

If what he heard was true, then he was running scared from the emperor.

Arthur looked at the clock and saw it was already 6 in the morning. He had to work today, and who would look after Rosie? He could leave her with Mal, but she was across town. Maybe the neighbor lady from last night? She was nice enough.

First, he would have to make sure she ate something. In all the commotion of last night, he was sure Rose had no dinner. He would need to fix her breakfast. Some oatmeal or fruit would be fine.

For the first time, Arthur was realizing how difficult Ariadne's life was with a child,a job and no other help.

He was about to leave the little bedroom to get dressed with his phone gave off a horrific ring that was loud enough to wake the whole apartment.

He jumped and quickly went to answer it.

"Hello?" he barked into the receiver.  
"Darling." came the cocky voice he hated more than anything.

"Eames." Arthur growled.  
"The very same." Eames said.  
"Do you have Ariadne?" Arthur asked.  
"I do in fact. But you better brace yourself." he added.

**I want to wish everyone a vary happy new year.**


	32. Chapter 32

32.

~ Ariadne was relegated to a small guest bedroom, and left there.  
Mr. Saito and the two Fischer's had been polite and accommodating to her. The former asking repeatedly if she needed something to eat or drink.

"I want to go home." she told him.  
"Soon, this unpleasant matter will be resolved." he said kindly. "Would you like to listen to the radio?" he asked.

"No." she told him.  
"Perhaps you can just rest then. Our business might be a long one. Then you will be free to go." Saito offered.

She felt herself trembling as Saito left her alone in the guest room.

It felt like hours before she heard loud voices in the other rooms. She could recognize Eames' charming accent anywhere and knew he had come to get her.

Memories of what he had done to Bill and the other man came to her mind and she stood at the sounds of footsteps outside the hall. She would be going home now. Going home to see Rose and Arthur and she would never have to think about this place again.

Eames threw open the door of the guest room and she almost cried in relief. He looked every bit the part of handsome rescuer, and it was all she could do to not run into his arms.

"Ariadne?" he asked as Mr. Saito came in with him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." she said said and tried not to cry.  
"Did they hurt you?" he asked.

"No." she said feeling tears fall out of her eyes anyway.  
"_Did they hurt you?_" Eames barked at her. His eyes flashing angrily.  
"No. No one hurt me. I just want to go home!" she cried.  
"Where is Rose?" he growled.  
"They left her at home." Ariadne whispered.

"We do not involve children, Mr. Eames." Saito said.

"No, you just kidnap innocent women." the speakeasy owner growled.

"Mr. Eames, you were the one who failed to repay me. Let's not pretend you're the victim here." Saito said.

Ariadne saw it then.

That dangerous look in Eames' eyes grew hotter. A flicker of raw hatred that made her move away from him.  
"Ariadne, everything will be alright." he said in a whisper as she saw his hand go to his hip. "I want you to stay in here, don't make a sound, stay in here while I go talk with these gentlemen." he said in a voice that barely concealed his anger.

Mr. Saito had a smug look on his face and never saw the strait edge razor Eames pulled out of his pocket and used to cut his throat with.

Ariadne was too shocked to scream as warm, bright red blood sprayed out of the gash in his neck. Saito's eyes rolling in the back of his head as his body crumpled to the floor.

The gentleman fell, face first into a pool of his own blood and coughed and heaved as Ariadne watched him.

"Stay here." Eames growled at her and left the room.  
~ She couldn't take her eyes off of Mr. Saito and his horrible death throws.

The man did not leave life easily.

He choked and wretched on the floor as a great pool of blood spread so quickly, Ariadne had to move or find her feet stained with it.

If there was shouting from the other rooms, gun fire, she didn't hear.

All she could do was watch Mr. Saito try to crawl to her for help. His arms reaching out for her as he coughed up more blood and tried to say something.

Monster.

Saito looked like a monster crawling towards her like that. His panting and gasping for breath as his skin went gray and his face and body became covered in blood.

Finally, mercifully, he gave up the ghost and coughed up a great gasping breath of blood.

Ariadne stared at him for a long time as he released his last breath and died.

~ The other monster returned shortly after Saito expired.

She didn't look up at Eames. Didn't see the fresh blood on his shirt. She was transfixed by Saito's dead eyes still staring at her.

~ "Daddy, is mamma back?" Rose said groggily as he dressed her as best he could.

"Not yet, Rosie." Arthur said feeling rushed as he tried to get the child's clothing and hair together.

He realized he had no idea how to comb Rose's long dark hair, and she yelped sharply as he tried to brush out a snarl of tangles.

"I want mamma!" Rose said fitfully after he tried to tie a lopsided braid that looked nothing like the ones Ariadne did.

"Me to." he sighed as he banged on the old lady's door across the hall from him.

The older woman answered the door looking sleepy and a little cross.  
"I'm sorry to bother you... Mrs..."

"Grossman." the older woman said.  
"Mrs. Grossman, can I ask you to look after Rose for a few hours?"

"No, Daddy!" Rose screamed and refused to let go of his hand.

"Rosie, I'll be back soon." he promised as the child threatened an all out tantrum.  
"Now, now." Mrs. Grossman said soothingly. "This won't do, Rosie."  
"I don't want you to go!" Rose shirked and Mrs. Grossman took her hand.  
"I know, Rosie." he said.

He wanted to tell her he was going to get her mother, but he wasn't sure what he would find at the Dakota.  
"Daddy!" Rose screamed again.  
"Rosie, you want to learn to play the piano? If you stop this fussing, I'll teach you." Mrs. Grossman said kindly as Rose buried her face in the older woman's apron and wept.

~ Arthur hated to leave the heart broken child alone with a virtual stranger, but Mr. Eames' message could not be ignored.  
"Name, Sir?" the doorman said as he greeted Arthur in front of the pristine building.  
Arthur gave him a stoney glare and showed him his badge.  
"Yes, sir." the doorman said. "Which apartment do you need, sir?" the doorman asked hurriedly escorting him to the elevator.  
"I'll find my way." Arthur assured him as he took the elevator alone.

~ Eames had given him only the most spartan of instructions about the Dakota and what would be found there. The detective wasn't sure what to expect as he rapped angrily on the door.  
"It's open." he heard Eames growl from inside.

Arthur smelled the blood as soon as he walked into the room.

It bit his nose with it's freshness. The hot, salty nature of blood made it unmistakable.

He wasn't ready to see the mess Eames had laid out on the apartment floor. He took a step back and averted his eyes. He wanted to open a window to get the smell of the massacre out. It was stiflingly hot and the odor of the blood was too much.  
"I cut myself during." Eames muttered from the kitchen.

Arthur tried to avoid the blood pools as he maneuvered around two beefy looking men. He followed the sound of Eames' voice till he reached the kitchen, and an even worse sight greeted him.  
Robert Fischer, the cocky, arrogant, too educated Robert Fischer was laying neatly in the dinning room. His throat cut wide open like a laughing smile. Next to him was an older man Arthur didn't know.

Arthur had to cover his mouth to arrest the smell of the blood.

"Eames..." he panted as he wanted to run outside and into the fresh air.

"It was much easier than I thought it would be." Eames said as he came out of the kitchen. A towel wrapped around his hand.

Arthur saw the blood spray covering his shirt. His careless, manic looking eyes as he looked over the room as if he still didn't understand what had happened.

Eames looked like a school boy just then. A boy who had done something horrible, but justifiable.  
"The real challenge was with the two cops in the living room." Eames added as he fished in his pocket and pulled out a strait edged razor.

Arthur's hand went to his 38 side arm, he pulled it free and automatically cocked back the hammer, aiming it at Eames. He was growing to like the feel of his father's too heavy gun. It was a gun that meant business and was there stop this killer.  
"Put it down, Eames." Arthur said calmly.  
Eames nodded and carefully placed the folded up strait edge on the table.  
Arthur retrieved one of his cotton handkerchiefs and wrapped it around the murder weapon.  
"What cops?" Arthur asked once he stowed the razor away.  
"In there. They have their badges and everything. They work for Mr. Saito." Eames explained.

"Who's Mr. Saito?" Arthur asked as he couldn't stand to be in this pit of blood and death one more second.  
Eames gave him a boyish smile.  
"He's the emperor of course." he said.


	33. Chapter 33

33.

~ It was as if hell had opened up and bleed over the room. Eames sat calmly at a dinning room table, smoked, and ignored the bodies laid out just a few feet away.

"Eames, I need to call this in. Alright?" Arthur said nervously as he checked the wallets of the two men in the living room.  
"I know you do, Darling." Eames said lazily.

Arthur was still panting and breathing through his mouth as he pulled out the blood soaked wallets from the two men.

Their faced had been beaten and broken teeth were falling out of one man's mouth. Arthur didn't recognize them until he saw the pictures.  
"I know... I know these men." Arthur panted as he looked over their badges and their black and white ID photographs. The names didn't ring a bell, but he remembered their faces. "They were in the park."

"Mr. Saito hires a lot of help from the police force. Helps to keep you and Cobb away, Darling." Eames offered.

Eames glanced over at his young lawyer's body.  
"You know, that little prick, Fischer, never once looked me in the eye. How can you trust a man who doesn't look you in the eye?" Eames mused as Arthur found the telephone and dialed the station house.

Cobb was quick to answer his extension.  
"Cobb, I need you and homicide over to the Dakota right now. I have four bodies here. Including two cops, Mr. Eames is here." Arthur said and almost vomited from the smell of blood again.  
Cobb was shouting at him as Arthur gave the apartment number and gently put the receiver on the table.  
"Eames, where is Ariadne? You said she was here." Arthur said feeling himself start to sweat.

"Bathroom." Eames said and looked over his cigarette.  
"Is she dead?" Arthur barked.

Eames became unresponsive then. He smoked and stared at Robert Fischer's vacant eyes.

Somewhere in the distance, Arthur could hear police sirens.

~ The beautiful carpet was ruined. Bloody foot prints were tracked all over as Arthur tried to avoid contaminating the evidence. It had been years since he was schooled on how to secure a homicide.

He left Eames alone in the dinning room. He knew he wouldn't run. Eames was relaxed and calm as if he were in the park.

"Ariadne?" Arthur called out to the horribly still hallway.

He opened a few bedrooms. All of them clean and empty.

He followed bloody foot tracks to a smaller room at the end of the hall.  
"Ariadne?" he called again and opened the door.

That reaching stench of hot, rotting blood greeted him. In the smaller, more closed off space of the bedroom, the odor was particularly horrific.

Arthur saw the prostrate body of a man laying face down in a pool of blood. His arms reaching for something that wasn't there.  
Arthur was feeling a sort of panic come over him as he couldn't find Ariadne. The apartment was still and quite. As if he and Eames were the only ones there still alive.

'_Please, God._' Arthur thought '_Please, don't let her be dead. Please don't let me have to bury her. Please don't make me tell Rosie her mother is dead._'

He almost missed the door to the bathroom.

'_She's in there._' he thought. '_She's in there, and she's dead. He cut her up just like he did these men._'

Slowly, preparing himself to face the unimaginable, Arthur opened the bathroom door.  
Ariadne was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, blinking back at him. Her face looked worn out and traumatized, but she was alive.  
"Arthur?" she croaked and tried not to sob.  
"Are you okay?" he whispered.

Very much aware there was still a killer in the house.

She nodded furiously as he knelt down and ran his hands over her face, over her hair. She was warm, alive and breathing.  
"Eames did this." she whispered.  
"I know." he hissed. "Police are on their way." he told her.

"Rose?" she whispered.

"She's fine." Arthur assured her. "Ariadne, stay in here. Stay here till I come get you." he ordered and left her in the bathroom.

Eames was still in the dinning room. The killer was still unguarded.

Carefully retracing his steps, Arthur wound his way back to the living room.

He almost expected Eames to have left, but he was still sitting placidly at the dining room table.  
"Police are on their way, Mr. Eames." Arthur said.

The speakeasy owner only nodded.  
"I heard they are closing up the old prison on Blackwell. Building a new maximum security prison." Eames said.

"Attica. Yes." Arthur told him.

Eames nodded and took a long drag.  
"Sounds nice." he said.

The sires were right outside. Screaming wildly from the street level.

Arthur let out a long sigh and removed his badge from his hip. His men would come bursting through the door so hot and ready for a fight, his only defense was his shield.  
"Why did you do this, Eames?" Arthur asked.  
"I never mix business with personal life." Eames said bitterly. "If they had approached me about their cut like the civilized men we are, things would be different. But they involved her in it. They took her and brought her here. I don't like that." Eames said.

Arthur was breathing hard.  
"Did she see this?" he asked.

Eames said nothing.  
"_Did she see you murdering these men?_" Arthur demanded.


	34. Chapter 34

34.

~ Things happened quickly after that.

Cops broke in and there was shouting as they hauled Eames to the floor and cuffed him. Arthur was next to be set upon. The two homicide detectives asking about the murders and Arthur explained as best he could what he found.  
"How did you know they were here?" the surly homicide detective asked.  
"Eames called me." Arthur said the other detective question the killer.  
"Why?"

"Because these men here, kidnapped my wife last night." Arthur growled.

Naturally, there was a series of questions that followed this bombshell. Arthur felt like he was living in one of the soap commercial series Ariadne would listen to on the radio.

It made for gripping drama: A kidnapped beauty, a nefarious speakeasy owner, a dashing New York City detective. A quintuple homicide in a fancy high end apartment building.

Arthur didn't have to explain much, he later learned Eames held nothing back.  
"Ariadne Shannon used to work in the kitchens of my club." he said as he regaled the detectives hours later. "Everyone knew I was sweet on her, but Darling swept her off her feet after the old stick in the mud raided the place. I don't begrudge them, they're happy." he said and asked the detective for a cigarette.  
"But Saito knew I was found of her, and he used that against me. When I tried to go legit, he wanted to use her to threaten me." Eames explained.  
"So you killed him?" the detective asked in disbelief.  
"Course." Eames said with a shrug. "We protect those we care about."

~ "Mr. Saito is the emperor." Arthur told the commissioner who personally showed up at the crime scene. "Those two cops Eames killed? They worked for him. They came at me in the park yesterday, baited me out of the house, and kidnapped my wife."

"We suspected that the emperor had his hands in our department for years now." The commissioner said bitterly. "This will lead to investigations, hearing. Anyone that might have been connected with the emperor and his underground dealings."  
The commissioner looked at Arthur critically.  
"Congratulations. You just shut down the biggest gang in the city, Darling." he said.

Arthur felt his knees buckle slightly as the commissioner slapped him on the back and began talking about moving him out of the prohibition task force.  
"Your talents are wasted there. Whole country will be wet in a few years anyway. I want to call up Ness in Chicago. That whole Capone mess is similar to what we had here. It would stick in his crawl if you could give his so called _untouchables_ a few pointers." The commissioner said.

"Thank you, sir." Arthur stammered. "But I don't-"

"I'll see you in my office in the morning." the commissioner said. "Chief Mayer says you'll be attending NYU in few weeks?"

"Yes, sir." Arthur said feeling all this was happening too fast.  
"We will have a place for you in my cabinet as soon as you graduate, if not sooner." the commissioner said and left.

~ Ariadne had been taken out of the apartment through the servant's entrance. She had been very quite and helpful when the detectives questioned her.

Eames denying nothing in his explanation of how he killed Saito in front of her. Indeed, he even took blame for the four murders at the Dakota as well as the Rat's and Bill Shannon. He claimed he wanted her husband out of the way.

Arthur's head started to hurt as everything was wrapping up a little too nicely. Even Mayer was looking pleased.

Ariadne was released without too much questioning, and Arthur took her home.

~ They rode in silence back to the familiar neighborhood.  
"Are you sure Rose is okay?" she asked faintly.  
"Of course." Arthur promised. "She's with our neighbor."

Ariadne only stared out the window.

"I um... I couldn't fix her hair very well, you'll have redo it." he offered lamely.

A failed attempt at trying to be funny. She didn't smile or speak until they were home.  
~ "Mama!" Rose shrieked as she rushed into Ariadne's arms.

Her mother seemed shell shocked at being back home. The events of the past 12 hours were too much to take in.  
"Mamma! I was scared!" Rose said as she hugged tightly to Ariadne's waist and refused to let go.  
"It's okay, Rose." Ariadne said as she brushed her daughter's hair back with her fingers.

"Rosie, you're mother is tired. Let's let her go to bed." Arthur offered as Ariadne looked like she couldn't handle what was happening just now.  
"No." Rose whined.  
"Ariadne, everything is alright now. Just go rest." Arthur told her as Rose's mother walked numbly to their bedroom.

~ Ariadne couldn't sleep; couldn't seem to calm down.

It was still light out and even though her eyes twitched with tiredness, she couldn't shut off her brain.

"Mamma?" came a little voice.

Ariadne peeked out of her covers and saw Rose climbing into bed with her.  
"Mamma, I'm hungry." Rose said petulantly.

She noticed the sloppy hair do Arthur had attempted and couldn't help but smile.  
"Ask Arthur to make you something." she told the little girl.  
"No, mamma. Daddy's no good." Rose whined.  
Ariadne almost corrected her daughter, but didn't.  
"Why not?" she asked instead.  
"He tried to make eggs for breakfast, and didn't put in grease in the pan!" Rose told her.

Ariadne wanted to laugh, but groaned instead. The pan would have to soak forever now and she would end up taking a butter knife to it to get all the cooked eggs off.  
"Daddy is trying to make pancakes now, mamma. He's no good." Rose insisted.

"Rose, I'm sure... your daddy is doing his best." Ariadne said.

Rose snuggled closer. He look-a-like girl cuddling in bed with her like they did before.  
"I missed you, mamma." Rose whispered.  
"I missed you to." Ariadne said and kissed her nose.  
"You are my sunshine." Rose sang hopefully.

Ariadne was quick to join in.

"My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know, dear; how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

~ Arthur was struggling with preparing pancakes for himself and Rose. He couldn't understand what he was doing wrong. He had mixed flour and water and eggs. Wait. Was he supposed to use milk instead of eggs? Or milk instead of water? Was he supposed to use butter? Rose had said something about putting grease in the pan, but he didn't believe her.

Arthur looked at the burnt disc of what was supposed to be a delicious pancake.

He sniffed it cautiously.

"Arthur, what are you doing?" came a voice and he turned to see Ariadne.

"I thought you were sleeping." he asked as he felt she had caught him in the act.  
"Rose told me how you cooked eggs with no grease in the pan." she accused as she looked in horror at the mess he was making.

Arthur had to admit, it looked bad. He was a fairly neat person, but he was surprised at how dirty plates, forks, and pans had formed around the kitchen.  
"Daddy's no good, Mamma!" Rose cried.

"You're right, Rosie. Daddy is no good." Ariadne told him.  
Arthur pretended to be insulted as she gave him a little smile.  
"Why don't you wash a few dishes while I make pancakes?" she offered.

Arthur nodded happily. As tried for the fifth time to scrap burnt eggs off a frying pan.

He watched Ariadne mix milk, eggs and four; grease another pan and soon enough smells of real cooking were in the house, not a horrible stench of burnt food.  
"Told you I would starve without you." Arthur laughed as he gave up on the frying pan and resolved to just buy a new one.

"Daddy's a bad cook." Rose said as she watched her mother put butter and syrup over a short stack for her daughter. Rose starting to eat with a happy grin on her face as Ariadne gave Arthur a look.  
"I'm not_ that_ bad." Arthur said helplessly.  
Ariadne went back to cooking another batch and Arthur took the time to whisper to her, his hands around her waist.  
"Eames confessed to everything. Even about Bill and the other man at the warehouse." he said as Rose was too busy eating to listen.  
"That's good." Ariadne said numbly.  
"I spoke to the commissioner." Arthur said.

Ariadne mixed and poured the batter.

"He wants me to come and work in his office right away. Apparently, I broke up one of the biggest gangs in the city. I also exposed a few dirty cops." Arthur told her.  
"Won't that dangerous for you?" she asked worriedly.

Arthur shook his head.  
"No, it won't be. I'll make sure of that." he said.

She said nothing, only looked at him. It was clear she didn't believe him.

"It's the life, Ariadne." he said. "I'm a cop, it's the job. It's always going to be dangerous." he explained.

"What going to happen to Eames?" she whispered.

"Same thing that happens to all murders. He'll be at the new prison upstate. They call it Attica and it's the only place for a man like him." Arthur told her.  
"He _is_ a murderer." Ariadne sighed.

Arthur nodded. He had read her statement about what she had seen. What Eames had done to Saito in front of her. She knew now that Mr. Eames wasn't a nice guy after all.

"I think I might go take a bath." Ariadne said softly as she turned off the stove and handed him a plate of hot pancakes.  
"Aren't you hungry?" Arthur asked.

"No. I think I just want a bath and to go back to sleep." she told him.

~ In the little bathroom, she sank into a warm tub of water. She should have done this as soon as she got home. She would have felt better and maybe gotten some sleep. The hot, soothing water was enough to relax her body as she tried to forget the stress of what happened.

She took her time in the soak, washed her hair and sat in the water till it was almost cold.

She was just about to get out of the tub when her arm brushed over her breasts. She glanced down at them in mild annoyance. Over the past week, she hadn't failed to notice the slight puckering. The darkening of the nipple or the swelling.

She knew what was happening. Had experienced it before with Rose.

She wouldn't be able to hide her condition for much longer.


	35. Chapter 35

35.

~ "So what do you think?" Arthur asked after Rose went to bed that evening.

"What do I think... about what?" she asked feeling worn out.

"About the commissioner wanting me in his cabinet. It's a major promotion for me." he told her.

"I thought you were being promoted to chief." she told him as she stacked the clean dishes and showed Arthur the still horribly marred frying pan.

"I know, I'll get you a new one." he promised hastily. "The commissioner's cabinet is a bigger promotion than chief. They still want me to go to school and everything. They're giving me credit for taking down Eames and Saito."

"But you didn't." Ariadne sighed.

"Not exactly, but they don't see it that way." Arthur told her.  
"What did they say when you told them we weren't really married?" she asked.

Arthur said nothing as she put Rose's dolls into the toy box. She striated back up and looked at Arthur.  
"They kept saying you were my husband. Rose calls you daddy now. It's all a lie, Arthur." she said softly.

"Doesn't have to be a lie anymore, Ariadne." he told her. "You know... you know I love you."

"I don't know that." she said. "I know you love your job. I know you love Rose."

"Well now you know I love you. What's to stop us from getting hitched?" he asked hopefully. "Eames is out of the picture. He's taking the heat for everything. You're a free woman, why not get married?" he asked.

She let out a long sigh and finally stopped cleaning long enough to look at him.

"Arthur, I appreciate everything you've done for us. I think I might have lost Rose if you-" she started.  
"No." Arthur snapped. "You're not giving me this 'We need to be on our own'... _crap_."

"We're not your family, Arthur. Rose is getting too confused about who you are to her."

"Maybe I_ want_ to be her father. Ever think about that?" he barked. "Maybe she calls me daddy now because she wants to."  
"She calls you daddy because she's five and doesn't know any better! She calls you daddy because you encouraged her!" Ariadne said harshly.

"She calls me daddy because I'm the only man in your life who treats you well." Arthur argued.

Ariadne shook her head and refused to look at him.  
"Look, I was thinking of just taking the money Eames left me, and maybe going back to Philadelphia with Rose. That money will go a long way to help my family till things get better." she said at last.  
She saw Arthur's eyes widen in fear.

"I don't want you to leave." he told her. "I love you, I need you. I've always cared about you."

"I know you care." she whispered.

"So stay." he insisted.

She didn't move as he stepped closer to her. His fingers catching hold of hers. Pulling her to him.

"Arthur." she whispered.  
"It's the life, isn't it?" he asked at last. "You don't want to be the wife of a cop. I get that; I really do."  
"I don't want to be the widow of a cop." she said sadly.

"That won't happen." Arthur said carelessly.

"You'll be investigating cops who were bribed by Saito. That means they will come after you; after me and Rose." she said logically.  
"You think I can't protect you?"

Ariadne gave him a cruel laugh.

"Oh yes, Arthur. You've protected us so well from people who want to hurt us." she said bitterly.

"Alright, fine!" he barked. "I can try for a position with Hoover and his men in Washington. I'm the golden boy right now; I'm sure I can go anywhere."

"I think Rose and I would be better off with my parents." Ariadne whispered sadly.

He looked on the verge of saying something, and remained silent.

"Look, it's been a long day." he said at last. "Let's just go to bed and we can talk about it more in the morning." he offered.

She nodded and followed him into what was becoming their room. The city street lights casting in enough illumination to undress by as Arthur started kissing her. His large hands moving up her dress and undoing buttons, one by one.

"I was so worried. So worried I lost you." he breathed into her lips as he kissed her.

She flinched away from him when his hands reached her breasts.  
"I want to leave my dress on." she told him as her arms were blocking him from her chest.

"Why?" he asked as his hands were busy maneuvering up her dress to her underwear.

"I just- I want to leave my dress on." she said as his mouth moved up her ear and tickled her neck.  
"I want to be with you." he whispered hotly in her ear. "After all that's happened."

"I know, but I want to leave my dress on." she told him.

Arthur was in too much of a rush to care if she kept her body somewhat covered. He had missed her too much, was too afraid of her leaving him to pursue why she refused to be completely naked with him.

He reasoned it had to do with the stress from her kidnapping, their disagreement out their future together. So many other things that would need to be addressed soon.

~ In the morning, Ariadne was up before he was. Preparing breakfast for them as if nothing had happened.

"Can we go to the park today, daddy?" Rose asked.  
"Not today. I have to go to work." Arthur said as he noticed Ariadne looking a little tired. "I want you to keep out of you mother's way. She's very tired, alright?"

Rose nodded as he only had coffee and noticed Ariadne didn't eat anything.  
"You're not eating?" he questioned as she left them to make the beds.  
"Not hungry." she called back.

"Mamma's been sick every morning." Rose informed him.  
"She has?" Arthur asked keeping an eye in the clock and not really listening to the child.  
"Rose, how would like to move to Washington D.C one day?" he asked.  
"No." Rose said stubbornly.  
"Why not?" Arthur asked as he shrugged on his coat and got ready to leave.  
"I like it here." she told him.  
"Why?" he asked.

"Because this is where we live." she told him just in time for Ariadne to hear.  
"This is where we live. You're right, Rosie." he said and kissed the little girl on the top of the head.

"Have a good day." Ariadne said and kissed him lightly, and distractedly, on the cheek.  
"I'll be home early." he promised.  
"No need, we'll be fine." she told him.  
"Maybe we can go shopping for a ring later today?" he asked as he headed out the door.

"Maybe." she offered lamely.

~ The commissioner's office was a hub of wild activity that stopped as soon as Arthur came into the offices. All eyes were on him as Commissioner Williams shook his hand.  
"So glad to see you again, Darling." he said. "Come with me."

He guided Arthur to a vault like series of offices in the basement.  
"Saito was a clean businessman on paper, but we now believed he was running half the illegal bars in the city. Eames was his favorite because he brought in the most profit. It's been a real shake up for the organization to lose both Eames and Saito in one night. Not to mention their lawyers. They're scrambling now, it's like turning on the lights and seeing the roaches scatter." he laughed.

"We're you wanting me to work in your officers, sir?" Arthur asked.  
"Of course. Prohibition is just an excuse to arrest these men. This time next year, the whole city will be wet. We've just elected a democratic Governor and he will win the white house in November. But in the mean time, we've still got organized crime, street gangs, all of that to contend with." Williams explained as he took Arthur to the major crimes investigation unit.

"This department is strictly on the hush, Darling." he said. "I want you to lend your expertize to these men-"

"Sir, about my expertize." Arthur sighed. "I didn't break up Saito's organization. If Mr. Eames' hadn't killed those men, we never would have linked him to anything. Saito would still be running things."

"You think I don't know that?" The commissioner said with a knowing laugh. "You're right, it's dumb luck that got you here, but it's a promotion just the same."

"Sir, my family is worried investigating dirty cops will get me killed. Will get them killed." Arthur said feebly.  
"Look, Darling." Williams sighed. "I had a long talk with Mayer. I know about your girlfriend and her kid, so stop pretending she's your wife. I'm a family man myself and I know they are in danger all the time. I doesn't excuse me from doing my job and putting the bad people away. There will always be people you care about. I'm giving you the chance for real advancement today. Maybe someday, you'll be in my chair. If you don't want the job, say the word and I'll put you in a typing pool or something. Nice and safe, no late hours. You'll be home by dinner time."

Arthur bristled at the insinuation that he should be typing with the ladies in the office and nodded as the Commissioner showed him to major crimes.

~ It promised to be interesting and never ending work. Case after case of gang related murders had been closed when they were linked to Saito and his network of criminals.  
"So far, we've raided ten speakeasies and arrested five of the Saito's lieutenants." Detective Wallace was telling Arthur as they cataloged files of mob hits over the past year.  
"We can close a lot of these now that all of his men are singing like canaries. All thanks to you." he added.

Arthur couldn't help but feel a little heroic as the other men in the unit kept telling him how he cleaned up New York in just just one night.

"I'm not so sure about this promotion. I was hoping to get married soon and she's not too happy about this life." Arthur sighed as Detective Wallace showed him the cold case room.  
"Well, it's not easy." Wallace laughed. "But marry the girl anyway if she'll have you. This is a hell of a promotion."

"I was thinking of going to Washington. Might be easier for us." Arthur reasoned.  
"Hoover and his boys?" Wallace said with a grin. "Sounds pretty sweet. We've worked with them before."

~ Arthur should have know it was all too good to last. Should have listened to that little voice of doubt in his head that said it wouldn't last. It would never last.

He had stopped on his way home, bought Ariadne flowers and a new frying pan. He had bought Rose a little stuffed bear and happily went home to tell his girls about his promotion.

He should have known they were gone forever when he entered the apartment and found it cold, and empty. A weeks worth of casseroles in the fridge so he wouldn't starve. The laundry done so he would have something to wear.

A note on the radio thanking him for everything he had done.

Arthur sat for a long time on Aunt Helen's lumpy sofa and watched the snow fall.

**Thinking of starting on a new story called: "An Inconvenient Husband" kind of a "what if" sequel to "the Convenient Wife" what do you think?**


	36. Chapter 36

36.

_~ March, 1932 ~_

~ Lieutenant Arthur Darling sat in his office surrounded by paper work. The only homey edition to the space was the radio he was listening to. No pictures in nice frames lined his desk like other men. No other person touches garnished his office.

He liked it better that way. He liked to think that all he had to do was take himself and his radio, and there would be no evidence he had even been there at all.

He had done well in the year following his promotion and the downfall of Saito's regime. He had personally arrested several gang leaders who had tried to take the emperor's place. His picture in the paper several times and he even shook hands with the governor.

Still, it all felt empty and meaningless after she left.

Arthur let out a sigh and turned the radio off as the annoying song came on again.  
_"Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again. So lets-"_ the tinny little voice was snapped rudely off as Arthur went back to his work.

He didn't want to hear anything optimistic or upbeat, let alone Roosevelt battle cry that would surely win him the election.

"I know what you mean, I'm getting sick of that song to. Hasn't Roosevelt won yet?" came a voice he was glad to hear.  
Arthur looked up to see Cobb strolling into his office.  
"Chief Cobb. How are you?" he asked with a mocking laugh.  
"Just fine, _Lieutenant_ Darling." Cobb chuckled.

"How is Mayer?" Arthur asked as Cobb sat down.  
"Not well. Why I'm here. We're expecting him to go at any time now." Cobb said.  
"Well, if anyone could have had his place, I'm glad it was you." Arthur said.

"Thank you. So you're liking your promotion then?" Cobb asked.  
Arthur shrugged.  
"I guess so. Between school and work. I never have time to think about things." Arthur said and cleaned his desk up of all his files.

"About Ariadne?" Cobb offered.  
Arthur let out a long sigh. He neatly stowed his folders away and even straitened his ink blotter.

"It's been fine. She was only in my life for a little while." Arthur consoled himself.

"Have you tried to contact her?" Cobb asked.  
Arthur looked at his hands.  
"She made it clear... in her note that... um she wanted to go on with her life. I'm sure she's doing fine." he said stiffly.

"You're not fine." Cobb accused. "You've lost weight."

It was true. Arthur had shed fat and muscle over the past year.

"Well, I'm hardly home. I eat at the diner and when I'm not at work or asleep, I'm in class. What do you expect? Maybe it's better this way, the past year has been hard. I never would have gotten to see them if they had stayed anyway."

"Why don't you contact her now? You're almost done with school. You're life with be normal and she can come back home." Cobb offered.  
"She doesn't want to come back home." Arthur barked. "She never thought of it as home, that's why she left."  
"Arthur, you have her address. Your friend in Hoover's office gave it to you when she first left. Maybe you could call her. A lot can change in a year." Cobb offered.  
"She doesn't want to be a cop's wife." Arthur snarled darkly. "That much hasn't changed, Cobb. She knows where I am. I haven't moved. If she wanted me, she would have come back."

~ Like every other day, Arthur went to night school after work and didn't arrive home till well after ten. He had long ago shut up the spare room that Rose and Ariadne had shared. Placing Rosie's tricycle and red wagon inside, and closing the door. The room staying empty as if expecting their return.

It was shocking how easily he went back to his bachelor ways. How he subsisted on food from the diner. How his clothing went back to being piled in the closet and once a month taken to be laundered.

Still, it felt like the apartment was waiting for others to arrive. For two more people to breeze through the door and make the place alive once more. For now, it was just a shell of emptiness and waiting.

~ Arthur was jerked out of sleep by his phone ringing. He had fallen asleep studying on the sofa again. He had a test in a few weeks and knew he would pass it. School had been easier than he thought and he was ahead of schedule. He was now giving serious thought to pursuing a law degree, maybe working with the justice department one day.

He saw it was barely morning outside when the shrill telephone gave off another ring.  
"I didn't wake you did I?" came the effeminate voice of Agent Ross from Washington.

"No, no." Arthur grumbled. "What's going on?"

"Oh well it's the census. I know you know about the 1931 census, Lieutenant Darling." he said.  
Arthur had to think back. The form he had to fill out about his living arrangements.

_1 male aged 25-35. _

_Bread winner of the house. _

_No other family living at residence. _

_1-0-0_

"Yeah, what about them?" Arthur said grumpily.  
"Well, as you know, I've been working in the records department a few days a week." Ross said in that prissy way of his. "I almost missed it yesterday, and I wanted to make sure."

"Something about the McClure gang?" Arthur asked hopefully.  
"No, not them. Your lady friend and her daughter. The ones in Philadelphia." Ross said.

Arthur felt himself tense.

'_Was she married to someone else? Dead? Was Rosie alright? Did the scarlet fever come back?_' he thought.

"What about them?" was all he said to agent Ross.

"Well, it seems she is still at the same address. The one her parents were living at. It seems there _was_ a death... ummm... let me see." Ross said and looked over some papers as Arthur's heart was beating rapidly. "Ah yes, her father died in February. Her sister seems to be living in the house with four young children along with the mother. There are no other male presence in the house." Ross explained.  
"So... it that all? Just her father died?" Arthur asked.

"Well, we're just now getting the census data together. I really thought you would want to know about what I found. The children's names are Robert, male, aged seven. Rose, female, aged six. Travis, male, aged three and Arthur, male, aged newborn."

Arthur hung up the phone as if he had been bitten.

'_Newborn?_' he thought as he realized he was breathing hard. '_She left in late January of last year. Could she have been pregnant when she left? We only knew each other for a short time. She might have been pregnant before she even came to stay with me. No... no, no, no. Bill had left her six months before. It can't be his baby. What about Eames? Maybe she really was with Eames and she was scared I would find out. We were careful, we took precautions every time. Right? Why would she name a baby Arthur if it wasn't mine? Maybe it's her sister's baby. That would make sense. If the boy is a newborn now, nine months to carry a baby to term... she left in late January of 31'... oh shit.'_


	37. Chapter 37

37.

~ Ariadne woke to the sounds of little Arthur crying in the early morning; the smells of her mother cooking breakfast and Rose kicking her in her sleep.  
"Rosie." her mother groaned awake. "Time to get up."

Rose pretended not to hear and rolled over. She was getting wore these days and becoming more defiant. Christmas had been particularly hard that year for Rose. No matter that they had better presents; thanks to Eames' money that was helping them to survive. Rose still asked when they were going home to New York.

The row house in Philadelphia was too crowded and the little girl still had to share a room with her mother and new baby brother who wasn't nearly as much fun as she had hoped.

Ariadne had to agree little Arthur was a bit of an oddity when he was born. Nothing but a big bald head with no teeth, skinny body, flailing arms and legs who screamed for days on end.

He had been born early and, at first, she had feared her son had been stillborn. The body was purple and too small. But the doctors and nurses coaxed him into breathing, and he screamed louder than any other child.

It had been a hard month after the baby arrived. He wasn't like Rose had been. He ate all the time, but didn't seem to grow at the same rate his big sister did.

She had explained to her mother about Bill leaving, and his death. Mr. Eames' place and Arthur taking them in after those desperate days in New York. Her mother, freshly widowed and at peace with the world, understood about the new family member. It was just a house full of women and children these days, so what did it matter?

Little Arthur howled at the indignity of being wet and hungry. Like his father, he was always half starved and greedy for feeding.

She changed her little boy who stopped his fussing when he saw her. His eye's just like Rose's had been, looked up at her. As if asking what took her so long.  
"Mamma, why does he cry so much?" Rose asked and finally pulled herself out of bed.  
"He's just hungry, Rosie." Ariadne smiled as she changed him and swaddled him up from the chill.  
"He screams too much." Rose said and crawled to the edge of the bed to watch her mother nurse her little brother.

"He'll grow out of it." Ariadne agreed as little Arthur sucked hungrily at her breast.

Rose had been intensely curious about the new baby, everyone had. The little girl's play with her toy babies had not prepared her for a world of breast feedings, dipper changing and a baby that cried all the time.

"Mamma, when is daddy coming to get us?" she asked for the hundredth time.  
"Rosie." Ariadne said sadly. "Daddy passed away. I told you that. He died the Christmas before last in New York."

"Not _him_." Rose said hotly. "Officer Darling. My _other _daddy."

Ariadne shook her head. She knew who Rose was talking about this whole time of course.  
"He's not your daddy, Rosie. He's not coming for us." she said weakly.

"When are we going back home to New York?" she asked.  
"Rosie."

"Do we have to take little Arthur with us?" Rose asked.

"Rosie, stop it." Ariadne said harshly.

Rose scowled at her. For a second, Ariadne didn't recognize her child's trough the shroud of anger.  
"I want to go home with daddy." Rose hissed.

~ Rose was good with her little brother to a point. After he stopped crying, his big sister would sing to him in his crib as she ate breakfast.

"Happy days are hear again. The skies above are clear again. So let's sing a song and cheer again, Happy days are here again." she said in her sweet child like voice as she nibbled on a banana.  
"Any song but that one Rosie." Ariadne called as she got ready for work.

With the money she had from Eames, she had helped her dad's failing paper company pay off it's creditors and re-open. It was doing well now despite the darkening cloud of the depression. They only employed two salesman and Ariadne worked as the accountant and her sister Betty worked the phones for no pay. Still, they turned a little bit of a profit. The family of six survived.

"I have to go to school, little Arthur." Rose said to the little boy as Betty wrestled her own hellion boys into coats and shoes. "But, I'll be back. Grandma is gonna look after you."

Ariadne was dressing for work and took the time she did every morning to look for Arthur. Her copy of The Times was delivered that morning, and she quickly scanned it for news about the cities hero, Lieutenant Arthur Darling.

She had a whole scrapbook filled with photos and articles about him. Not a month went by where he wasn't a featured article.

There was one, a particularly lovely photo of him in uniform when he received a medal from the city. She looked over the crime section, saw his name relating to some street gang. He had given a sort and simple statement on their arrest.

She let out a sigh of relief. He was still alive and doing well. No article or picture this time. Maybe next time. She gently clipped the tiny article out and put it in her scrap book. Making sure to mark the date with ink.

~ Arthur had trouble maneuvering the tight little neighborhoods of Philadelphia. He wasn't used to such narrow streets and how claustrophobic everything felt.

He finally came up on the right house number and wished there was a better place to park so no one would see him. The houses here were so close to the street it was insane.

'_If she answers the door, don't yell. Don't accuse._' he lectured to himself. '_Don't scare or upset her._'

He steeled his nerves and walked up to the door.

'_Don't yell at her. Act like your happy to see her._' he reminded himself. '_You are happy to see her._' he thought nervously as he rang the buzzer.

Almost immediately, an older woman answered the door.  
"Yes?" she asked kindly. Arthur knew this must be Ariadne's mother. She was the same height, same big eyes that Ariadne and Rose shared.

He had expected Ariadne to answer the door and fumbled over what to say next.

"Hello." Arthur said stupidly and fumbled for his badge. "Um... hello ma'am. I'm Lieutenant Darling. NYPD. I'm looking for Ariadne Shannon."

"Oh, it's Ariadne Levine now. She went back to using her maiden name." the older woman said in a pleasant tone.  
Arthur took about his notebook, for lack of anything else to do, and scribbled a useless note.  
"Is she home?" he asked.  
"I'm afraid she's at work just now." the older woman said. "But she should be home soon. What's this about?" she asked.  
Arthur couldn't tell this sweet old woman, who's warm little house smelled of baking and nice things why he was here.  
"I'm here about the 1931 census report. Regarding the newborn." he said instead.

The older woman turned slightly pale and a thin cry came up from the rooms behind her.

"Oh, that's my grandson. I need to check on him. Won't you come in?" she asked and waved him inside.

"Thank you, Arthur said as the little woman busied herself in a nearby crib.  
"Our little man here has never gotten over being so colicky I'm afraid. He was born early and sick you see." the lady said as she picked up a squalling thing that was all arms and legs.

The baby bawled so out of control, that Arthur took a step back. He didn't know what else to do as the lady of the house took a glass bottle from the ice box and set it to warm up on the stove.

The infant seemed to see he was going to be fed, and calmed down a little. Arthur peered nervously at him as his red face, a result of his crying, was turning back to pink.

"He was sick?" Arthur asked and felt woefully unprepared to face the child.

"Oh yes, we didn't register his birth right away because of it. My daughter, Ariadne went into premature labor three times and little Arthur here was in one of those glass incubators for a week. He was so tiny. But he pulled through." the older lady said and kissed the child on his bald head.

Arthur nodded absentmindedly.

"Well, that's why I'm here, ma'am." he said clearing his throat. "The baby isn't listed in the court documents. Just the census. There is no last name, no paternity or maternity given."

"Well, that's a touchy subject, officer." the older lady said and sat down on the sofa. The baby giving a halfhearted cry as he wanted his feeding.  
"How so?" Arthur asked.  
"Well, my daughter came back home from New York last winter where she and her late husband had been living. We talked about giving the baby here up for adoption, but Ariadne wouldn't hear of it. I know it's hard and she had a little money from Bill's life insurance, but babies are so expensive." the older lady went on. "Why, little Arthur had a lot of medical bills from his time in the hospital. I told Ariadne a nice family would be able to pay those bills, and she refused to let him go with the agency lady."

"She didn't give him up." Arthur breathed in relief.  
The lady nodded.  
"We didn't register his birth because we didn't think he would live, and then, because we weren't sure we would even keep the angel. Oh don't get me wrong. I'm very glad we did. I think Bill's life insurance must have been a large one." The older woman chuckled.

The baby fussed and cried sharply.  
"It's alright little one." the old lady said and looked at the stove with the bottle.  
"I can hold him, if you like." Arthur said hopefully.  
"Oh, would you mind?" the lady said and gratefully handed Arthur his son.

"He's a might fussy with strangers, but I've only two hands and he demands four." the lady said.

Arthur didn't know how to hold a baby and the child was passed to him trustingly.

"Hello." Arthur said to the child who looked at him with Rose's big brown eyes.  
The baby didn't cry or fuss when Arthur held him. Only looked at him curiously.

"Well isn't that something? Little Arthur doesn't take to strangers very well." the lady said.  
Arthur cleared his throat as his son looked him over.  
"So, the mother's name would be documented as Ariadne Levine. What about the father's name?" Arthur asked.  
"William Shannon." the lady said and brought back a bottle. "Her late husband. He died just before Christmas of 1930."

Arthur felt his heart rip lose from whatever held it in his chest. His blood rushed cold as he his son cooed and looked contentedly at him. The baby's long arms and fingers wanting to touch his father's coat. His legs kicking so Arthur had to hold him up.

"Why... why did she change her name back... back to her... um maiden name?" Arthur asked.

"Well, I suspect they had their troubles before he died. Then, to find herself widowed, in a family way and in the middle of a depression. No, it was easier to just come back home and be with the family again." the old lady said and brought back a bottle.

"Can I feed him?" Arthur asked hopefully. "I never get a chance to hold a baby and I know you need a break."

"Oh certainly." the old lady said and gave Arthur the bottle.

"So, William Shannon is the child's father?" Arthur asked trying to sound casual.  
"Well, he was her husband." the old lady said logically.

Arthur nodded.

"I see." he said as he watched his son eat greedily.

"One thing about the child, he's an eater. He eats like he's starving and I don't know why he's so skinny." the old lady said.  
Arthur said nothing, but had to agree the child was too thin.  
"My daughter is worried sick. She wants to take him in for more testing. I think she's convinced he has come kind of parasite." the old lady giggled. "Mrs. Alpert's three daughters are all tall and skinny to. It's like a family of giraffes! You would think their mother never feeds them, but she does!"

Arthur was half listening as he watched his son eat. The baby's big eyes looking up at him.  
'_I know you're mine._' Arthur thought as he looked over the child's long legs and fingers. '_Why else would she name you after me?_'

"Mother?" Ariadne's voice interrupted the peaceful moment and Arthur looked up.

He hadn't heard her come in through the back door. Rose close by her side. The little girl had grown a few inches in the year since they left.  
"Daddy!" Rose cried out at seeing him. Her face lighting up happily.

Arthur and the old woman stood to see Ariadne's shocked face.  
"Guess you're not happy to see me." Arthur said darkly.


	38. Chapter 38

38.

~ "What are you doing here?" Ariadne asked worriedly as she pulled her child from his arms. Arthur making sure the glass bottle didn't drop on the floor.  
"Daddy, I missed you. Are we going back home?" Rose said eagerly.  
"We sure are, Rosie." he said feeling like a conquering hero. "_All_ of us are going home." he added glaring at Ariadne.  
"Rosie- _Rose_. Why don't you go play? Mother, I need to talk to this man alone." Ariadne said.  
"I'll go pack!" Rose shouted happily.  
"He said he was here about the census and the birth certificate." the old woman said worriedly.  
"Go pack, Rosie!" Arthur shouted to the little girl.  
"Arthur, we're not going anywhere." Ariadne snapped at him.  
"Arthur?" the old woman asked.  
"Is that my son?" Arthur asked pointing to the baby who was now fussing at having his meal interrupted.  
"Arthur." Ariadne panted as she handed the child off to her mother.  
"Why didn't you tell me about him? He was sick? He almost died? You were giving him up? Not one phone call in over a year about him!" he shouted.

"Should I call the police?" the old woman said.  
"No, he's leaving." Ariadne said.

"I'm not leaving." Arthur said. "Call the police; they would love to see how you kept my son from me."

"Ariadne, who is this?" her mother asked as the baby cried fitfully.  
"Mother!" Ariadne said looking harassed. "Please just let me talk to this man."

The old woman looked worriedly at her daughter before going upstairs with the baby.

Arthur was breathing hard as Ariadne finally met his gaze.

"Is that my son?" he asked when why were alone.

"Yes." she said meekly.  
"Why didn't you tell me about him?" he asked.  
She didn't look at him.

"Did you know you were pregnant when you left me?" he asked.

She closed her eyes.  
"Yes, I did." she admitted.  
"Why did you leave?" he asked.  
"Your job was dangerous, Arthur. The mob was after you, remember? They had kidnapped me, could have killed me. It was too dangerous with you investigating all those dirty cops." she said.

"Not as dangerous as keeping a man from his son." Arthur breathed hotly.  
"You're not taking him." Ariadne said warningly.

"I don't have to, you're bringing him and Rosie back home with me. We can have a doctor look at him in New York." he said.

"We _are_ home." she told him.  
"That's my child." he snarled.

"We're not married. Your name isn't on the birth certificate, you have no way to prove it." she said coldly.  
"How about you named him after me?" he snapped.  
"I could say it's because you took us in, that you took care of us." she said.  
"So, what? You'll have people think that's Bill's son? You don't even want Bill's last name anymore, but you'll give it to my son?" he shouted.

She said nothing and looked at her shoes. Her arms crossed over her chest.  
"Why didn't you tell me he was sick, Ariadne? Your mother said he almost died. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked pitifully.  
She shook her head.  
"It was easier to leave you. I didn't want that life for us. I took Eames' money, and I came back home. If I had stayed, you would have resented me and felt trapped." she said.  
"I never felt trapped." he argued.  
"He was a sick baby, I needed more help then just you-" she tried to explain.

"No!" he snapped at her. "You hid him from me for a year. Don't give me that. You hid my only child from me, don't blame him!"

He had never wanted to slap a woman before in his life. But a sudden irrational anger at her made his hand twitch. The only thing that kept it at bay was the memories of them in New York. Of Christmas morning and how she would cook for him. How they were together in the darkness of night.  
She sniffed slightly.

"Arthur, I'm sorry. You would have hated me for getting pregnant. A baby in the house, while you were trying to go to school would have been too much. I was scared and I wanted my mother." she admitted.

Arthur let out a long sigh.  
"How sick is Junior?" her asked bitterly.  
"He has trouble gaining weight. He's always hungry." she said starting to cry softly.

Arthur pulled her closer to him and she buried her face in his chest.

"We can get him looked at by a doctor." he said.  
"I keep having him checked, he was so colicky when he was born." she wept sharply and he shushed her. "They don't know what's wrong."

"We can have a doctor in New York look at him." he said reasonably as she wept. "But he's probably okay."

"I think he has a parasite!" Ariadne sobbed.  
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Arthur told her. "We can leave tonight; I brought the car."

"Daddy, is my tricycle back home?" Rose asked as she came back down stairs with a hastily packed bag.

Ariadne pulled away from Arthur to see her daughter then.

"Rosie, we're not-." she tired to say.  
"Your tricycle and wagon are right where you left them, Rosie. We're going to get your little brother and go home." Arthur interrupted.

~ Ariadne didn't argue.

It felt good to have Arthur take charge again. Like when he had told her she was living with him the first time, she complied easily.  
"It's just for a week or two. Till we get little Arthur checked out." she told her mother as they packed the home made jumpers and blankets for the baby.

"Ariadne, please tell me you didn't keep this man's son away from him." her mother whispered worriedly. "A police man no less."

"Mother." Ariadne sighed.  
"I'm not judging you. He's a nice looking man with a job. He's seems really stable. Bill was no good and got bad when the crash happened. I'm not saying what you did was wrong." she said. "But he should have known about the child at least. You should give him the chance to be a father."

"Mother, his job was dangerous." Ariadne said as the baby started to fuss again. "He had his own life to live. He didn't need us ruining things for him."

"Ariadne." her mother said soothingly as she watched her daughter pick her baby up.  
"Mother, we'll be back in a week. We're going to see what's going on with little Arthur, and hopefully we can get him well." Ariadne said hopefully.

~ The drive back to New York was not easy. The baby didn't like the long car ride and wailed to be fed every hour.

Arthur had to stop the car when the infant cried so harshly, demanding food and changing. He had to admit, a baby, a real one, wasn't easy.

Little Arthur was demanding and hoarded Ariadne's attention every waking second. Arthur could feel his heard start to hurt as they drove back into the city.  
~ "You sure you want to do this?" Ariadne asked as the baby selfishly wanted to be fed again and Rose raced up the stairs to the old apartment.

Arthur looked over the crying baby who hadn't given them a moment of peace since they left Philadelphia.  
"Absolutely." Arthur said as she tried to comfort the baby.  
"Mamma! We're home! We're home!" Rose called from the living room. "I want my trike, I want my wagon!"

"Rosie, stop it now." Arthur said sternly as Rose started to jump on the sofa.  
He carried in the baby's crib as Ariadne went back to their bedroom to nurse.

He suddenly realized how messy his home was. Above the usual bachelor mess was school work on the kitchen table, and dishes in the sink.  
"Daddy!" Rose scolded him as she looked at the condition of the kitchen.  
"I know, I know, Rosie." Arthur said as he placed the baby crib in the living room.

"I'll help you." she offered as she ran a sink full of hot water.

Arthur was surprised a child Rose's age could be so useful in the home. Rose helped him wash and dry the dishes, straiten up and all without being asked.  
"Mamma would be mad if she saw it." she told him as they collectively gathered up trash to be thrown out.  
"Mamma already saw the laundry." Ariadne said as she came out of the bedroom holding the baby.  
"How's junior?" Arthur asked as the infant was still fussy.  
"I think he'll go to sleep now." she told him.  
"I'll call Dr. Cook in the morning to set up an appointment. He's the best in the city." Arthur said.  
"Is little Arthur going to be okay?" Rose asked.  
"Of course, Rosie." Arthur told her.

"We shouldn't keep the crib in the living room. The phone ringing would wake him." Ariadne told him.

"Right, I should have thought of that." Arthur said feeling stupid. The whole idea of where to place a crib was new to him. Everything was new to him.  
"We can put him in our room." he offered.

"No, Rose and I will stay in our old room. The baby can stay with us." Ariadne told him.  
"Junior can sleep with you and me, Ariadne." Arthur said sternly. "Rosie can sleep on her own."

"I want to sleep in my own bed, Mamma." Rose added.

~ Ariadne watched the baby sleeping for several minutes before taking deciding to take her bath and quickly returning to check on him.  
"He's fine." Arthur chuckled as she made sure the baby was breathing and in no danger.  
"I've never seen him sleeping so well." she told him as Arthur pulled her closer to him.

"He knows he's home." he whispered in her ear.

Ariadne stiffened and pulled away.  
"More likely he's just worn out from the drive." she told him and went of her side of the bed.

"Well, I'm glad he's home." Arthur said and went to his side of the bed. "I'm glad you and Rosie are home to."

Ariadne didn't say anything for a long time as they settled themselves. They were like strangers again. Sharing a bed with no contact.

"Look, I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the baby. It's just... I knew if you knew about him... you wouldn't let me go." she said in the darkness.  
"Of course not." he said sharply. "He needs his father. He needs his family. I hoped we would be married by now, but you left."

"You said you didn't want me to be pregnant." she sniffed.  
"We weren't married yet." he told her. "I'm not sorry he's here. I want Junior to get well and run around this apartment like Rosie does."

Ariadne let our a laugh.  
"We might have to get a bigger place." she said and he sensed she was wiping away a tear.

"Maybe." he agreed. "I'm making decent money now. "As soon as I'm done with school, maybe we can move upstate."

He shifted in the bed and rolled closer to her.

She tried to pull away, but he caught her and pinned her down with his body.  
"Arthur." she sniffed and didn't meet his eyes.

He felt how thin she was suddenly. How some of the softness had gone out of her body.  
"You've lost too much weight." he whispered as he kissed her lips.  
"So have you." she told him with a laugh. "I hardly recognized you."

"You haven't been eating right." he accused.

She sniffed back a tear.

"It's hard. With the baby, Rose and a job." she told him.  
"You should have come home."

"I know." she whispered as he felt her legs rise up around his hips. "I know I shouldn't have left."


	39. Chapter 39

39.

~ "He was born three weeks early and had to spend a week in the incubator." Ariadne told the doctor the next morning.  
The older man was examining little Arthur as his mother looked worried and his father scowled darkly. The baby was on his back in a simple dipper as he reached for the doctor's nose and ears playfully.  
"How often does he want feeding?" he asked as he felt the baby's arms and listened to his heart beat.  
"All the time. Much more than my other child did." Ariadne told him. "He never seems to be satisfied and he's not a big as he should be. Also, he isn't interested in more solid foods. My daughter wanted solid foods at four months."

"He's underweight and every baby wants solid foods in their own time." the doctor agreed. "But I see no evidence of a parasite or anything that might hint at something of that nature."

His hands moved over to the baby's stomach and little Arthur yelped sharply in pain.  
"He's always had a sensitive stomach." Ariadne told him quickly.

"We'll need to keep him overnight, I'm afraid." the doctor said gravely.

"What? You can't give him some vitamins or something?" Ariadne cried wanting to take her baby back.  
"I'll need to perform more tests, Mrs. Darling." he said sternly as the baby started to cry. "It's my belief, surgery will be necessary."

~ "I've got about $2,000 left from the money Eames gave me." Ariadne said as they waited to admit their baby to the hospital.

Arthur was pacing up and down as the admit nurse was busy bringing them paper work.  
"Do you think that will be enough?" she asked him. "Paying off my father's business took a lot of it. Then, we had living expenses." she told him worriedly.  
"We need to get his birth registered with the city of New York." Arthur said. "Then he can be on my insurance plan."

"I never registered his birth. He's illegitimate. I didn't want the stigma. What if we can't pay for his surgery? What if he doesn't make it?" Ariadne whispered as Arthur finally took a restless seat next to her.  
"We register his birth with me as his father." he said as the nurse brought out forms for them to sign. "Then, my insurance with the city will pay."

"They'll put the illegitimate stamp on his certificate." Ariadne whispered.  
"Then, we'll get married." Arthur told her as he signed his name under father of the baby.

~ It felt odd leaving the hospital without their son.

"What if he dies? Arthur?" she persisted.  
"We can't think like that." Arthur told her sternly. "The doctor said they do surgeries on children like this all the time."

Ariadne shook her head.  
"I wish I could go under the knife for him." she said with a sob. "I... he's just so small."

"I know." Arthur said.

He was thinking the same thing; that he would break his own bones, cut off his own fingers so that his son wouldn't have to endue the surgery.  
"I'm sure he'll be just fine." he said soberly as Ariadne started to weep.

~ "You're little brother is going to be just fine. He has to stay in the hospital for a few days. When he comes back, he won't cry so much." Arthur told Rose that evening when they came back empty handed.

Ariadne had retreated quickly to their bedroom and Rose wanted to know where the baby was.  
"I want to go to the hospital to." Rose told him eagerly.  
"You're not sick, Rosie." Arthur told her.  
"Yes, I am. I'm sick all the time." Rose said and made a little gagging sound.

"Enough, Rosie." Arthur told her.

"I could help the nurses take care of him. I could sing to him. He likes that." Rose said.  
"You're brother needs a special doctor to make him better." Arthur tried to explain. "He might not be home for a few days."  
"Is this because I wasn't nice to him? I tried, but he cried all the time." Rose said sadly. "He cries all the time and I didn't like him at first. I like him now, but not all the time."

"Rosie." Arthur sighed and pulled the girl on his lap. "Junior needs an operation. It's no one's fault. When he comes home, he will be better and won't cry so much. His tummy was always hurting him. That's what the doctor thinks."

"I didn't know that." Rose said softly as she curled into Arthur's lap. "Is he sick because we left?"

"No, baby." he said gently. "I told you, it's no one's fault."

~ "You're almost done with school." Ariadne said as kept looking over the baby's empty crib.

"How do you know that?" Arthur asked when he came to bed that night.

A selfish part of him was glad she was back. Good food had returned to the dinner table, and the apartment was clean again

"You left your transcripts out on your dresser." she told him as she folded his shirts and hung up his dress blues. "You've made good grades." she added as he folded up his school work.

"Yeah, I did alright." he admitted.  
"You got a medal from the Governor." she added.

"And how do you know that?" he asked feeling embarrassed.  
"I took the paper. You were in it all the time. I kept a whole scrapbook of you."

"Why?" he laughed.

She shrugged, and for an instant, she was the sweet and happy lady he brought into his home over a year ago.  
"I was proud of you. I'm still proud of you." she explained.

She hung up his uniform and looked sad again.  
"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a healthy son. You deserve a healthy son." she whispered.  
"Junior's going to be fine." he promised.

"You don't know that. We might be burying our son soon." she said bitterly. "Since the day he was born, I was scared I would have to bury him."

"Is that why you didn't tell me?" he asked "If he died, I never knew about him..." he swallowed hard.

"I told you, I didn't want you to feel trapped." she whispered.  
"I don't. I wanted to marry you, remember? I still do." he told her.  
"I didn't want to jump into another marriage. And what about your promotion? Your boss will find out you have an illegitimate child. A woman you're not married to living in your house."

Arthur huffed.  
"After the commissioner, I'm the boss. I'm still the golden boy in the department. They won't get rid of me. Besides, it's not as if you're my mistress or something scandalous like that." he told her.

She gave him a weary smile.  
"In the morning, we'll go to the court house, get a clerk to marry us. Then register our son's birth. No illegitimate stamp on the certificate." he promised.  
"Arthur." she stammered.  
"I'm not doing this right." he muttered and went to his dresser drawer.

She watched him curiously as he pulled a black box out of his sock drawer.  
"I bought this, just after you left. I was hell bent of driving up to Philadelphia to come and get you and Rose back." he said as he opened it and looked over what was inside. "I knew you would say no. So, like a coward, I stayed here in hiding."

"I was the coward." she told him as she watched him take out a simple diamond ring.  
"Sorry it's not a very big stone." he said blushing as she saw the art deco scroll work on the sides of the ring.

"No, it's wonderful." she said as she gave him her hand.

She watched him easily slip the ring on her finger and kiss her hand.

"See?" he whispered. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"


	40. Chapter 40

40.

~ Election Night ~

~ November, 1932 ~

~ "Arthur, this is horrible. You've just taken all your daughter's money away and left her with only twenty dollars." Ariadne scolded as the baby, fat and happy after his feed of mashed potatoes and peas, cooed happily.  
"Twenty dollars is still a lot of money." Arthur said defensively.

"Mamma!" Rose moaned and sulked over the board game.  
"Don't look at me, your daddy bankrupted me right from the start." Ariadne laughed as she stood to clean the baby before bedtime.

"Be back soon, our new president will be on the radio and I want everyone to hear it." Arthur called after her.  
"I don't like this game, daddy." Rose whined.  
"What? _Monopoly_?" Arthur, drunk with power, asked. "It's all the rage right now. It's fun."

"When you win." Rose observed.

Ariadne, in the little bedroom, heard the comment and tried not to laugh.

She changed the baby, who had gained weight rapidly since his surgery a few months ago. Little Arthur had stopped crying as much and had started craving solid foods.

With her baby clean and happy, Ariadne kissed the still red scar on his belly from the surgery and he gave her a ticklish laugh.

"You're not going to sleep anytime soon, are you?" she asked him and the boy grinned at her.

"I'll let you roll for me, Rosie." Arthur instructed.

Ariadne's look-a-like daughter sulked, but picked up the wooden dice and let them roll.

"How's junior?" Arthur asked as Rose, careful with her counting, moved his piece that he was too grand now to move himself.

"One... two... three..." the girl said

"He's fine, Arthur. Stop worrying so much." she told him as she took the baby and sat by the radio.

Arthur smiled at his wife. The wall of family pictures above the sofa modified to include their wedding portrait and a professionally done photograph of the whole family. It felt better to retire some of the old pictures of men in uniform.

His family was more important than the legacy. Still, if his son one day decided to become a policeman, who was he to object?

"Boardwalk!" Rose screamed and Arthur turned to her in shock. "Daddy boardwalk! Pay me! Pay me!"

"Wait." Arthur fumbled as Rose retrieved her little card and read.

"All my green houses, you have to pay me... one, seven, zero, zero." she told him and showed him the card.  
"$1,700 Rosie?" Arthur scoffed and looked grimly at his landlord's blue card.  
"Take all his money, Rosie!" Ariadne said encouragingly.  
"Your daddy will have to sell all his property, honey." Arthur said coaxingly.

"Don't buy it Rose, take all his money!" Ariadne laughed.

"You're not in the game anymore." Arthur reminded her.

"Your daddy took all of mommy's money!" Ariadne laughed as Rose looked very pleased with herself.

Arthur groaned and counted out all the colorful cash he had, went to the bank and mortgaged property.  
"I'm afraid I can't pay, Rosie." he admitted.

"Bankrupt him, Rose!" Ariadne encouraged.

"You lose! I win!" Rose shouted with glee.

"Alright, you win this time." Arthur sighed.  
"I still don't see why you like that game." Ariadne said as Arthur wrote Rose's name on the home made trophy they had for the occasion.

"It's fun to bankrupt your friends." Arthur told her sadly as Rose ran around the apartment with her little trophy.

"It's mean. You're teaching our daughter to be mean." Ariadne corrected as Arthur picked up his son.

"Roosevelt will be on the radio soon." she told him. "Looking forward to being a wet country again?"

Arthur sighed and sat down in his father's chair.

"You know, I joined the prohibition unit, hoping it would... fix a lot of issues I had with dad's drinking. Hoping it would make me the man my father wasn't." he admitted.

Ariadne was quite as she took a bit of sewing in her lap. Arthur's dress pants needed letting out, again. He had gained the weight back as easily as the baby had.

"But I think bringing you and Rose, and now Junior into my life made me the man I was searching for." he said at last.

"You were always a good man, Arthur." Ariadne told him. "I'm sorry I never appreciated it till it was almost too late."

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but the national anthem blared on the radio.  
"Rosie, get in here!" Arthur shouted as they stood up, right hands over their hearts.

Rose scurried back, her handmade trophy in her left hand, her right hand over her heart as the national anthem was played, the pledge recited and Roosevelt's confident voice took to the airwaves.

His speech promised a long road of still further hardship. That certainly they were living in difficult times, but by no means, the end of times.

Rose looked a little bored as her parents listened intently to the president's speech.

Finally it was over and there was clapping and cheering over the airwaves. Rose held her trophy up high in victory, Arthur kissed his wife, and the radio broadcast the now tedious.

"_Happy Days are Here Again._"

**~ END ~**

**I'll be the first to admit it, this was not my best AU historical work. There were times when it just wasn't working and I had the toss out whole chapters. A lot of readers, I know, felt it might have ended better with her leaving him and that would be the end. **

** I mainly wrote this to show, in the smaller economy of the depression, how truly desperate those days were. When $7 a week for food was a lot of money and starvation level poverty really existed in the depression because there was no food stamps, no minimum wage, no unemployment, no social security, no fair pay for women, no real relief from the government. **

** No one wants to repeat the great depression, and with all this worry over the fiscal cliff, I fear we might have to. **

**For those of you who don't understand the fiscal cliff, this is how it was explained to me.**

**The family income is $21,700 a year. **

**Money the family spends is $38,200**

**Debt on the credit card is $16,500**

**Outstanding balance on the credit card is $142,700**

**The family cut backs $38**

** Now, if this was a real family, you would blame them for being so stupid, then blame the bank for lending them more money then they could afford to ever pay back. **

** Another way of looking at it is: if you came home and your toilet was backed up, would you raise the ceiling or get rid of the shit?**

** I'm not blaming the president, I blame congress who won't do their jobs. We're their bosses, and if our employees won't do their jobs, then they should be fired. **

** Before the depression, tax rates were at an all time low, creating the bubble of reckless lending. After the depression, rates were higher, 90%, stableizing the economy. **

** We were a much more socialist state after the depression then we care to remember, hopefully, It won't take another depression to bring us back. **

** Sorry I had to be preachy there.**

** Right now, I'm working on a squeal/what if story to my "Convenient Wife" A&A AU. A lot of people really wanted Ariadne and Eames to be together and I get that. So, in my new story, Arthur will have died on the Empress... or will he? (Evil Laughter)**

** It's called "An Inconvenient Husband". **

** I hope you all enjoy it. I will also be trying to write a John Blake DKR story as well. A lot of things, details about the siege didn't thrill me and I wanted to go into more detail. **

*** Historical inaccuracy! Monopoly wasn't widely released for the public until 1937. It was called "The Landlord's Game" until then. Monopoly was very popular during the depression. People liked bankrupting their friends.**

*** The part where Arthur goes out to shovel snow was based on my own childhood. My dad was a power lineman and when bad weather would happen, he had to leave my mother and me and go out in the storm to keep the power on. **


End file.
